Toshiro Potter
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: One fateful winter night, he died. Now he is the captian of the tenth division. There's only one problem. HIs past has come back to haunt him as he and his team is sent to England to deal with the sudden spike in Hollows. Can Toshiro settle his past?
1. Chapter 1

The day Harry died no one even knew how it would affect the world in general. Hell, no one realized that the supposed savior of the hidden world among us was dead from hypothermia.

Or that six years after he died he became a captain class Soul Reaper who wielded the very element which killed him. And that he had a new name which everyone called him. His name was no longer Harry James Potter of Little Whinging, Surrey.

He was Toshiro Hitsugaya of Squad Ten, wielder of the Ice dragon Hyorinmaru and youngest of the captains inside the Seireitei. It had taken him less than a year of graduating to obtain the rank most Shinigami never reach in their after lives.

How did he achieve this rank when he had barely been dead for six years? Was it because he was a genius as many people believed? Was it because he had an innate control of his zanpakuto, the other half of every soul reaper? Or was it because he was the best Kido master in the Soul Society?

Toshiro honestly wondered what people would think if they knew how he had achieved Bankai so quickly after graduating.

The only thing he trusted to have his back was his zanpakuto. He didn't even trust his squad, or even his second in command Rangiku. (Though he would adamantly deny that he actually liked it when he got hugs from the hyper woman. He had a reputation to uphold dammit!)

Hyorinmaru originally didn't know what to think when he finally found his partner. He honestly didn't expect to have a boy who had been betrayed so many times in his young life that he only trusted himself. And since he was an extension of the boy, the child reluctantly trusted him. They spent most nights talking, just talking.

Often the subject would be about the academy, people who bothered to talk to him, what they would do in odd situations. Hyorinmaru liked the fact that he was the only person Toshiro opened up to. Everyone else was kept at arm's length, even the girl Hinamori who was the first person who Toshiro had ever met when he died.

* * *

The day that Toshiro learned his bankai was different than most.

It had all started when Hyorinmaru commented on an odd area in his soul which was filled with darkness. Toshiro meditated and went into his soul, and when he saw the area he froze. His very demeanor changed completely, as he went from arrogant genius to an abused and timid child. He was shaking.

"What is it?" asked the dragon.

Toshiro continued shaking, and Hyorinmaru caught one phrase which had him stop cold.

_"I don't want to remember."_

Hyorinmaru did something odd. He held the tiny soul reaper, just held him. Slowly the shaking stopped. Toshiro looked at Hyorinmaru.

"I blocked off that part of my memories because I really don't want to remember who I was before. If I could get rid of it I would."

"How can I trust you if you can't trust me?" asked Hyorinmaru.

Toshiro stiffened.

"If you want to look, go ahead. But I will not go back. I refuse to go back."

Hyorinmaru watched the memories his partner had blocked from himself for all this time.

_(Toshiro's past)_

_A fat boy beat up a much smaller black hair waif, despite the fact that they were roughly the same age. A horse faced woman forced the black haired child to do chores meant for someone twice his age, throwing him in a small cupboard which was almost too small for the child. A large walrus man bellowed as he beat the child for something he had no control of._

_The scene shifted..._

_The black haired child was now an infant sitting up watching as a red haired woman was hit with a sickly green light and her soul chain was completely severed. The man with a stick held it at the child, preparing to use the same light..._

_Suddenly Hyorinmaru saw himself standing before the child, as the sickly green light hit him and bounced off his reitsu to hit the man instead, who turned into mist and vanished. The woman saw him and bowed before wrapping around the boy creating a shield._

_Then a large man with wild hair picked up the child. Hyorinmaru followed him as he took the boy to the house which held the animals that harmed his partner in life. Standing outside was a stern looking woman who could give Soi Fon a run for her money, and a color blind old goat who appeared to be sucking on a lemon drop if the scent was any indication._

_Hyorinmaru caught a glimpse of the note the man left, and heard a series of names._

_Hagrid, the large man. Minerva McGonagall, the stern woman. Albus Dumbledore, the color blind goat who left his partner in the hands of monsters._

_According to the note Dumbledore left, Toshiro was named Harry Potter and he had just saved their hidden world from the Dark Lord Voldemort. He was a wizard who would go to Hogwarts when he turned eleven. He almost missed the little note on the bottom._

_"Petunia, under no circumstances are you to adopt Harry. He is to be kept ignorant of our world until we come for him. You will be paid for your assistance."_

_Then he saw something that made him see red._

_Toshiro was being forced to cook for the smaller pig who whined about some asinine thing while the horse face woman yelled at his partner. Toshiro was thin, and he could see ribs under the large bruises on his torso. It was snowing outside, and the walrus walked in furious about something. He spotted something that obviously made him even more irate, and he threw Toshiro outside with no protective gear or even a blanket._

_Toshiro whimpered and climbed into a small doghouse, huddling against the cold wood for warmth. He stayed outside for hours as the family ate the meal Toshiro had cooked, the small pig eating most of it. Not once did they check on him or even look in his direction._

_Toshiro closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep which he would never wake up from. Then he saw something that made him blink._

_From under the raven black bangs where his scar was located, something shrieked in agony and disappeared. The scar healed over and Toshiro vanished, body and all._

_When Toshiro woke up, he was in the soul society with his sword, and he had changed physically. His raven hair had turned completely white, his emerald eyes became a teal color, and he gained at least a foot in height. His stomach and torso no longer showed bones, though it did growl from hunger._

_But the most prominent change was that his eyes no longer held an innocent look. Now they were as cold as ice._

_(Back to Toshiro POV)_

* * *

He honestly never wanted to go back to the world of the living again. He preferred the day to day lives of those who died to that hell.

Hyorinmaru came back and looked at him.

"We will never speak of this again if that is what you wish."

"Thank you. I never want to go back there."

Suddenly Toshiro was awakened to an alert. Apparently a Menos had appeared very close by and he was the only Soul Reaper in the area. He grabbed Hyorinmaru and went to face the creature without anyone there to back him up.

He heard Hyorinmaru telling him to run, but Toshiro refused, since there were younger souls around and they would get hurt. Letting his stubbornness show through, Toshiro leapt into danger. His natural leadership abilities came into play as he directed souls away from the area, though one caught his eye.

A man with hazel eyes and untameable raven black hair was leading some of the smaller children away. Something about the man clicked, and Hyorinmaru silently marked him so Toshiro could find him later.

The Menos appeared, it's feet causing minor craters in the ground. Toshiro took a stance, and prepared to attack.

**'If you insist on fighting that damn thing, then you should at least listen to me.'**

Toshiro felt his reitsu spike as he held his sword in front of him.

"Ban...Kai."

Ice formed along his body and he took complete control of the element. He could feel glacial wings surround him and he accepted it with his very being. He sensed the tail and odd flowers above him, marking his power. Ice crept along his arm holding the sword, forming a dragon's mouth.

The wings opened revealing him, and he said clearly "Diaguren Hyorinmaru!"

Toshiro made quick work of the Menos once he found his Bankai, and then went looking for the man and the children.

He found them among Squad Four who was being led by a timid boy named Hanataro Yamada. He went up to the man and said "Is everyone alright?"

The man gave him a relieved smile.

"We're all fine. What about the beast behind us?"

"I took care of it. It won't bother you anymore."

"Thank goodness. I thought the regular ones were a hassle, but that one was a nightmare. I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm James Potter."

"Toshiro Hitsugaya," he said out of reflex, then squinted at the man. Why did he look so damn familiar?

Hanataro came over and saw the two standing together and said something that really struck home something that was bothering the small soul reaper.

"You know if your hair was black and your eyes brown you could pass for brothers...or even father and son!"

That was when he realized who the man was and why he looked so damn familiar.

It was his father. He wondered how the man would react if he knew his son was killed by his in laws?

"Yeah... I was thinking the same thing! Maybe you could help me play a few pranks on some of those uptight soul reapers who come around, Toshiro-kun!"

Toshiro noticed something else about James Potter. He had a enough reitsu to easily gain a seat in one of the squads.

"Why aren't you a soul reaper yourself? I can tell you have enough spiritual energy to get in."

"Because if I did that, I'd have to answer to some stick in the mud."

Toshiro couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. It was a pretty apt description of most of the captains.

* * *

A week later four captains recommended Toshiro for taking over Squad ten. Unohana of squad four, Ukitake of squad thirteen, Soi Fon of squad two and Kyoraku of squad eight. Since he had achieved Bankai during the battle of the Menos, even if it was a bit unstable, he got the position. The only complaint he made was about his vice captain, who insisted on glomping him on sight.

While most of the shinigami in his division were a bit miffed at having so young a captain, they quit griping once summer hit. Toshiro hated the heat, so he used Hyorinmaru to cool off the barracks.

After that their attitude did a one eighty and they openly approved of their captain.

A month later James Potter entered the academy. It took him less than two years for him to graduate, and he already had a position in Squad ten. What most people were not aware of however, was that Toshiro took to visiting the man whenever he had a day off.

Squad two was up to it's neck in reports of pranks played on every division, particularly squad ten. Squad four was hit the least. Soi Fon became so irate she personally looked for the culprit.

* * *

Six years had passed since Toshiro died, and things began to happen in the world of the living that drew the Soutaicho's attention. Particularly England, which had gone into an uproar over something...and the Hollows had begun to multiply in the country. It was highly unusual, since Japan had the more spiritually rich lands. England was the third rich, with America at second.

So he sent Toshiro and six others to the nation to discover the cause.

Toshiro picked Rangiku, Ikkaku, Hanataro, James, Yumichika and Renji for the advance team. James originally mentioned there would be trouble if he went, but Toshiro gave him a look and he caved. For some reason he was closer to the tiny taicho (TM) than anyone else in the barracks, including his own vice captain.

Though Rangiku liked him just fine even though he was one rank below her. James had filled the post of third seat after the original guy died fighting a hollow.

* * *

So here they were, in England. James lead them a small pub, after forcing them to put on something that he said wouldn't attract attention. When questioned how he knew this, he said with an embarrassed look that this was where he used to live.

Apparently he lived there recently, since the entire pub was in an uproar over his appearance.

After which they left and got the supplies James knew they would need. He even found his old wand and made sure to settle some accounts, particularly once he found out that his old headmaster had been stealing from them.

Though he was in shock once he heard from the goblins that his only son was not only missing, but considered dead, since the blood test showed that almost the entire Potter line was now gone. To make matters worse, he found out through the goblins that his best friend and blood brother was considered a murderer and was now in Azkaban.

* * *

Toshiro was decidedly unimpressed with the place, even though James did in fact know where the source of the problem had originated. Ever since they did a bit of research and discovered that this Voldemort character had split his soul (which is why the hollow count in England had suddenly spiked) they were stuck there until they could locate and cleanse this man's soul.

Since James knew all about this world, he was the unofficial leader. Though why they needed sticks was beyond them. Toshiro refused to get a stick (James called them wands) as did Ikkaku, Rangiku and Yumichika. So they made a slight detour to Japan and contacted Urahara.

He turned their zanpakuto into the required sticks, including Hanataro who had finally located his sword. (He was rumored to have a bad habit of losing it for some reason.)

* * *

Back in England, a certain old man was wondering why rumors that James Potter had survived had cropped up. He had personally seen the dead body of the man, so he honestly had no idea why the rumors had started.

His main concern was that his golden boy was dead, according to his blood aunt. And according to the memories he caught a glimpse of, Harry had been dead for the past six years from the cold. Since anything he did to the family would undoubtedly be traced back to him, he erased the memory that he had been there at all.

Since he could not find Harry as he left him, he decided to have one last attempt at locating his pawn. He sent the letter through Fawkes.

* * *

Toshiro looked up when he heard the odd bird song. A bird with the colors of the sunset flew up to him, and he heard James gasp in surprise.

"What is Fawkes doing here?"

"Fawkes?"

"Fawkes is the phoenix familiar of my old headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. But why is he here?" said James.

The bird landed on Toshiro's shoulder, and dropped a letter. Toshiro couldn't makes heads or tails of the letters, since his romanji was very rusty.

He handed it to James...and once he read the name on the letter his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"Mr. H. Potter?"

Toshiro stiffened. He had dropped that name years ago and with good reason.

"What's wrong Captain?" asked Rangiku. She had never seen her captain show actual fear before. Why did the name frighten him?

Toshiro immediately took a quill and parchment and wrote something down in romanji. It was a bit sloppy, since he hadn't used the language in so long, but it was passable.

He gave it to the phoenix who promptly flew away in a ball of flame.

* * *

_"To Albus Dumbledore..._

_I am writing to inform you that the person you sent the letter to is dead. He is never coming back and any attempts to locate him will be met with retaliation. Do not send any letters addressed to him again or you will suffer the consequences._

_T. H."_

He was stunned. Why had someone with the initials T. H. get a letter for Harry? And why was Fawkes giving him the evil eye now?

Minerva came in with an irate look on her face...one she usually reserved when she was complaining about Severus Snape.

"Albus, are you aware that we have four new students which popped out of nowhere?"

He looked at her in question.

"Rangiku Matsumoto, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Hanataro Yamada and Jamie Potter."

Jamie? Could Harry have changed his name to Jamie?

"We can easily accommodate four new students. Send the letters Minerva. I will handle the paperwork."

* * *

James pulled Toshiro aside, and asked him the one thing that bothered him.

"Why did you get a letter addressed to Harry Potter? Fawkes wouldn't have delivered it to you unless something was up."

Toshiro once again stiffened at the name, "I don't want to remember..."

James wouldn't let up, until finally Toshiro's eyes flashed emerald. He gasped.

"Toshiro, how did you die?"

He gently touched the boy's tiny frame, and was suddenly pulled into a memory.

He recognized his wife's horse faced sister and her husband immediately. The pig boy was obviously their son Dudley. But the smallest child...that couldn't be Harry! Why the hell was his son with Lily's magic hating sister when they stated in the will that he was never to know about them or go to them?

He watched in disgust as his own son died from frost, and be reborn as Toshiro.

He didn't realize he was hugging Toshiro for a good five minutes, or that the boy was sobbing.

The next morning James came to a decision, and acted like he was going over something with the captain. Boring stuff which had the others turn back to breakfast.

"Toshiro, I know now you're my son Harry. But if you don't want me to call you that, I won't...though I hope you don't mind me calling you Prongslet every now and again."

"I dropped my birth name to forget my past. As long as I'm never called Harry again, I don't mind being called Prongslet."

James smiled.

* * *

Since they were pretending to be first years, James gave them gigai's of what they would look like as eleven year old children. Only four of them would infiltrate the school, while the other three would report back to the soul society. James even changed his name slightly so he could go in undetected. He also put in contacts which would turn his eyes green. That way everyone would think he was his own son and not wonder why Toshiro looked so much like Harry Potter.

The first day of school, and he made sure that they got onto the platform without a fuss, missing a large group of red heads. They immediately claimed a compartment and waited for the train to leave.

An hour into the ride, the door slid open to reveal a gangly red head with freckles.

"Do you mind? Everywhere else is full."

"That's odd. The train is spelled to add compartments so there should be another one. I'm afraid we don't have room here," said James.

The red head looked closer at him and said "You're Harry Potter!"

Toshiro hid his wince, as James said "No, I'm Jamie Potter."

"But you've got the scar..."

"Which one?"

Eventually they heard the wizard's tale of how Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord and had a distinct lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Once James lifted his bangs (thereby proving he wasn't Harry) Ron left.

Toshiro scowled, "Who the hell came up with that load of bull? And who was the idiot who singled out this kid by telling everyone about an odd scar on his head?"

The door opened again, revealing a bushy haired brunette who was looking for a toad.

"You wouldn't happen to know the name would you?" asked James.

A nervous boy behind her squeaked, "Trevor."

"Accio Trevor the toad!"

He caught the missing toad and handed it to the boy. Apparently this set off the girl, since she started spouting off all the spells she knew. James bore this with good humor before she finally left.

Toshiro saw the grin and asked patiently, "What is so funny?"

"She reminds me a lot of Lily."

The door opened a third time, revealing a pale blond with a set of goons.

"They've been saying all down the train that Harry Potter is on."

"Wrong name. My name is Jamie Potter, not Harry. Why does everyone keep calling me that?"

Draco pulled something out, and handed it to him. James growled and showed the others...it was a card.

"You mean to tell me everyone is going to call me Harry because of some frog card? Where did they find a picture of me to put on a Frog Card anyway?"

"Don't know. All I know is that is the accepted picture of Harry Potter."

James handed the card back.

"Anyway, I'm James, this is Toshiro, Hanataro and Rangiku."

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle."

"What were your parents on when they named you?" quipped James.

Draco sensed that this boy wasn't mocking his name or trying to be hurtful so he replied, "I have no idea but I want some."

James grinned and invited him to join them.

* * *

Aside from the cold lake and ghosts (all of whom panicked when they saw the disguised soul reapers) they were pretty impressed with the school.

Then the sorting came and it all went to hell.

"Matsumoto, Rangiku!"

_"Gryffindor!"_

"Longbottom, Neville!"

_"Hufflepuff!_

"Hitsugaya, Toshiro!"

Here the hat paused for a good ten minutes before yelling _"Ravenclaw!"_

"Potter, Jamie!"

Whispers broke out when she said Potter, and loud cheering could be heard when it yelled_ "Gryffindor"_ within five seconds of the hat touching his head.

"Yamada, Hanataro!"

_"Hufflepuff!"_

"Malfoy, Draco!"

The hat was silent for five minutes before proclaiming_ "Ravenclaw!"_

Draco sat next to Toshiro, who was glaring at the headmaster for some odd reason.

"You know many pure-bloods are openly hoping that man would at least gain some form of appropriate fashion sense...or at least a decent taste in color combinations."

Toshiro's eye twitched as he took in the colors of the headmaster's robes.

"I can see why. I take it everyone hopes he's color blind?"

Draco snickered, "Actually yes."

* * *

Toshiro could honestly say he liked the Ravenclaw dorms. He even swiped the window seats along with Draco. The next morning they went to breakfast, chatting idly about the school. James came up, a little miffed that Toshiro went into a different house than him.

Toshiro's eyes twitched a bit...was James actually whining about that?

Eventually he told his father "Shut up unless you want to become an icicle."

James dropped his whining...then he dragged the irritated chibi all the way to the Gryffindor table to meet a pair of twins.

Said twins began bowing to James for some inexplicable reason, calling him Lord Prongs. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at the sight.

James leaned conspiratorially saying, "My old nickname is Prongs, and I left quite a reputation behind. Apparently the terror twins have taken up my old mantle of pranking...and I accidentally let it slip I was one of the Marauders."

Toshiro glared at him, "Will this interfere with the mission?"

"Other than me sneaking off to prank a few teachers, not really. And they promise to give me and Rangiku an alibi should we have to sneak off to dispatch hollows."

"Fine."

James said in English, "And this is my pranking apprentice Prongslet. He is brilliant when it comes to muggle pranks, so watch out."

The twins began bowing to him and he snorted.

"Just don't annoy me too much and I won't freeze your dorm room."

Seeing their disbelieving eyes James snickered, "He can do that actually. He's been known to freeze a large field with ice when someone vexes him."

* * *

Aside from the grumpy potions master, the boring history ghost and the irritating stalker that was the headmaster, Toshiro reluctantly admitted to himself that he was enjoying this mission.

James however, was NOT. He had a good idea why Snape hated him, but there was nothing he could do or his cover would be blown.

That is, until Snape finally pushed him too far by illegally using Legilmency on him. The only reason he didn't figure out then and there that it was James Potter and not Harry standing before him is because his zanpakuto threw him out.

After the incident, James warned the others about Snape and Dumbledore. Then the disaster of a flying lesson...which resulted in James somehow ended up on the Gryffindor team. Toshiro found flying fun, but not very practical.

Interestingly enough, Hanataro soon found himself as Madam Pomphrey's favorite student after the accident Neville had while flying. After which, Hanataro found himself learning how to heal using wizarding methods.

Toshiro honestly didn't care about that, since he knew Unohana-taicho would approve.

Then something odd happened during the Quidditch match. Someone attempted to throw James off his broom, and would have succeeded had he not had his wand or known the 'Finite Incantum' spell.

* * *

Afterwords Ron and Hermione both thought Snape was trying to kill him. Their reasoning would have gotten to James had he not known something they didn't.

Snape still owed him for saving his life after Sirius tricked him one year. Which is why James knew Snape would never try to kill him before he repaid that debt...it would have eaten away at him if he had.

It was also how he accidentally uncovered that Dumbledore had the Philosopher's stone in the castle. Since he knew full well what it was and what it could do, he alerted Toshiro to the problem.

That's why Toshiro could have been found during the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff match on the third floor. It took him less than fifteen minutes to locate, take and leave with the stone in his possession. He didn't even bother putting in a replacement.

* * *

Halloween, the one holiday that Toshiro loathed above all else. He could stand Christmas, even Valentines day, but Halloween always held bad memories for him.

Hence why Toshiro hid in the kitchens with James, Hermione, Rangiku and Draco. Hermione was upset because of something that Ron had said and Rangiku was trying to calm her down. The boys were plotting to get back at the guy who insulted their friend.

By the time they headed to the Common rooms, they had no idea that someone had let a troll in. Toshiro, Draco and Hermione only found out when they made it to the dorms. The prefects were really hysterical because no one had any idea where the three were.

"We were in the kitchens trying to calm 'Mione down. Ron Weasly of Gryffindor insulted her by saying she had no friends when she was trying to help him with the assignment," said Draco.

"It's true, that and I hate Halloween with a passion."

Cho took a good look at Hermione and realized they were telling the truth since she looked like she had been crying a lot. Which is the only reason they didn't get any points deducted for being out of bounds with a troll on the loose.

James and Rangiku almost got chewed out as well, until they expertly shifted the blame on Ron.

"Where were you two? There's a full grown troll on the loose!" screeched Percy.

James looked right at a certain redhead and glared.

"Blame your younger brother for insulting Hermione Granger for trying to help during an assignment. I had to show Rangiku where Toshiro and Draco took Hermione after Ron insulted her. We stayed in the kitchens the entire time."

Percy turned to Ron.

"Did you insult someone Ronald?"

Ron winced, "I was only telling the truth. Everyone knows she hasn't got any friends because she's a know it all!"

That was when the twins let James know that Ron was terrified of spiders. The next morning everyone could hear Ron screaming like a girl as he woke up to find his bed full of baby acromantulas.

* * *

Christmas, and things appeared to have settled down. Toshiro loved the castle now, since the temperature had dropped so much that he was able to breath easier. Though he kept hearing Poppy's harping because he never bothered to wear any warm clothes outside.

Though she was mystified as to why he never seemed to get sick despite the fact he kept going outside in nothing but a thin robe and pants.

In fact, Toshiro appeared to be the only student in the castle who actually enjoyed the Potions room. Snape was startled to realize that not only did Toshiro never bother with the gloves or warming charms, he was also the best potions maker of the lot during this season.

Which drove him to find out why Toshiro was the only one not affected by the almost sub freezing temperatures of the dungeons. If only so he could tell his Slytherins so they would quit whining about the cold common rooms.

As he used his legilmency on the odd white haired student, he found himself in a large plane full of ice. He heard a woosh behind him and turned...and was confronted with a dragon made entirely of ice!

Snape withdrew so quickly he got a very nasty headache which almost felt like a hangover.

What the hell was that dragon, and why was it in Toshiro's mind?

Toshiro stayed behind class to confront him.

"Why did you try to infiltrate my mind?" he asked coldly.

"What the hell are you?"

Seeing an opportunity in the question, he decided that they could use someone like Snape on their side. Especially if it meant him staying out of their heads!

"I am a Shinigami, one charged with the balance of life and death."

Snape looked at him shrewdly.

"That is impossible."

"You live in a world of magic, so what makes you think that it's impossible."

"You would have to be dead."

"I am. This body I happen to be using is a fake."

"What was that plane of ice I saw?"

"That was my soul. And the dragon is apart of it. His name is Hyorinmaru."

"How do I know that you're telling the truth?"

Toshiro sighed, then took out a strange pill. He popped it in his mouth and felt his soul being pushed out of the fake body.

Snape stared, as Toshiro somehow doubled himself using a pill of some sort. One Toshiro was wearing the student's robes...but the other...was wearing an outfit he had never seen before with black being the main color. He had a white cloak with diamonds on the bottom and an odd symbol on the back. On his back was a long thin sword with sky blue cloth criss-crossing on the hilt, and a chain with a crescent moon hanging from the guard.

But what really got to him was the pressure. The air felt cloying, almost like the sheer force was too great for him.

"So you do have some spiritual energy. I take it you can see me as well?"

Snape nodded.

"Look, just leave me and the others alone and we won't come after you."

"What others?"

"Rangiku Matsumoto, Hanataro Yamada, Jamie Potter, Hermione Granger."

"Granger is one of you?"

"Actually no. She's still among the living. But I'm tired of calming her down after you berate her so much that she cries."

After that Snape toned down his insults, much to the relief of the soul reapers. He even looked the other way when he caught them in spirit form after hours, killing hollows. For some reason he was the only one who could see them like that.

* * *

So far they had no luck finding any of the pieces Voldemort left behind. Strangely enough, they were the only ones in the school aside from Dumbledore who even bothered to say the name out loud.

Then they had a breakthrough when James took them to the Room of Requirement for a break and to study.

Toshiro was fed up with the false leads, as were the three who had to run them down while they were stuck in the school.

Finally he said out loud, "I wish we had even one of the Horcruxes here right now!"

Suddenly the comfortable study room fell away to show a lone table with an old circlet. Toshiro picked it up and James looked it over.

"I think that's Ravenclaw's diadem. But why would the room...?"

Toshiro felt something was off about the diadem, and reached out slightly with his soul.

And promptly pulled back.

"I think that Voldemort turned this into a horcrux. It's giving off a major vibe that reminds me way too much like a hollow."

Toshiro took out his communicator and called the Twelfth division.

"Captain Kurotsuchi is busy. May I help you Captain Hitsugaya?" asked his vice captain Nemu.

"We've found what appears to be a horcrux made by Voldemort. Ask your captain if he can construct something that can track the rest using the reitsu it's giving off."

A dour voice answered, "Send the blasted thing with the others when they make their rounds!"

Renji arrived around midnight the next day, and Toshiro handed over the diadem.

* * *

Afterwords James took them to one of the many Potter mansions to celebrate Christmas. He even invited the twins and Ron, though he had an ulterior motive for the red head.

Ron had brought along his pet rat, Scabbers.

James obviously recognized the rat, since he pulled an elaborate prank which made Ron believe Scabbers died of natural causes. Ron while heartbroken, did accept the replacement pet James got for him.

He loved his new tawny owl Windy.

* * *

_*PETER PETTIGREW ALIVE! CONFIRMED DEATH EATER! SIRIUS BLACK FOUND INNOCENT AND RELEASED AFTER FALSE IMPRISONMENT!*_

* * *

Toshiro looked at James, irritated. James had forced the rat to return back to human form, used a full body bind on him then made an illegal portkey that took Pettigrew directly to the Auror's office during the night.

"Why did you do that?"

"Peter was the secret keeper. If we had stayed with Sirius, both of us would be alive. Besides, he made everyone believe that old hound was as black as his name."

Toshiro let it drop, he could see a lost cause when he saw one.

* * *

Christmas music, Toshiro thought bitterly, should be gagged, drawn, quartered, boiled in acid, then forced fed to those damn carolers...slowly.

It wouldn't have annoyed him so much if the carolers outside the door could sing properly...or better yet learn some new songs! There is only so much _'Santa Claus is coming to town', 'Rudolph the red nose reindeer', 'Frosty the snowman', 'Jingle bells', 'Noel',_ and _'Jingle Bell Rock'_ one person could take.

Which is probably why several of the off key caroling idiots outside were currently taking a break from singing to curse quite eloquently at him.

He had been using Hyorinmaru to nail them with snowballs. Personally the dragon found the whole thing amusing, since Toshiro was finally acting his age for once. James was too busy laughing because Toshiro hit Yumichika with a large ball of snow.

Meanwhile, Toshiro was not looking forward to their soon to arrive guests. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Though he definitely couldn't wait to see how they reacted to finding out that not only was their dead best friend back, he was a Soul Reaper!

Suddenly the carolers started yelping because a large black hound dove into them. They quickly went home, deciding it was a bad job all around.

The black hound went up to Toshiro, who by this point was in a mood to throw snowballs (he always won), so he ducked behind his little fort, then whipped out so fast with a large ball about as big as the hound and threw it.

It hit dead on. James walked up to Toshiro, saw the large paw sticking out and began howling with laughter. Then he turned into his animagus form (which for some odd reason was also his zanpakuto's name) and threw even more snow on top of the buried hound.

"Damn it all! Enough snow! I'm freezing my tail off here!" growled an unfamiliar voice.

A man with tawny hair walked up absolutely amused.

"Lose a fight with a snow ladened tree, Padfoot?"

"That brat threw this on me!" whined Padfoot.

Then they saw James and their jaws dropped.

James was on the ground laughing his ass off.

"You're not going to make a proper snow angel like that," commented Toshiro. Which only made James laugh harder.

"James?" said Sirius in complete shock. Remus was stunned silent.

James finally got up, took one look at Sirius and said "You got old Pads."

Which is when the former convict tackled him.

Remus shook his head in disbelief, then turned to Toshiro. Then paused, and took a good look at the boy. James got out from under Sirius and said, "His name is Toshiro. Toshiro Potter."

Toshiro looked at James, and he grinned.

"It's not like I wouldn't have adopted you. Besides, I doubt they would be able to pronounce your last name properly anyway."

* * *

Christmas day was interesting to say the least. Once Sirius and Remus got over the fact that their dead friend was back...and in the body of an eleven year old, things really livened up. Sirius began pranking James every morning, and Remus tried to keep Toshiro from killing the former convict.

All the while Remus tried to figure out why Toshiro looked so much like James with Lily's intelligence and eyes. Then he asked James, and he grew quiet. His hazel eyes glowed with rage about something, and he said quietly to both of them, "Toshiro is Harry."

Stunned, Sirius said "But isn't Toshiro dead?"

"Yes. And it's all Dumbledore's fault. He gave Harry to Lily's sister, and they killed him by leaving him out in the cold until he died from it. That's how I found him. He saved me and some children from the fallen souls that inhabit the after life, and we hit it off. It wasn't until recently that I found out that he was Harry."

"I'm so sorry James, if I had known what Peter was going to do when I caught up to him..."

"It wasn't your fault Padfoot. Peter couldn't have fooled the old goat, he wasn't an Occulmens like you. And Dumbledore was the one who insisted that we switch the Secret Keeper."

"What do you plan to do to him, now that you're back?" asked Remus.

"Once we get rid of the soul pieces, I fully intend to show Dumbledore what I think of his scheming. This whole mess is his fault, it always was."

Toshiro entered then.

"I think the entire war you lived through was his doing. Think about it. Dumbledore could have taken out Voldemort when he was still new at being a Dark Lord and prevented the whole thing. Instead he waits for a prophecy to be made and then makes everyone dance to his tune while he sets up two families for a fall."

Surprised, they realized he made sense. Dumbledore could have taken out Tom Riddle when he was still small time, but he let the man grow out of control.

Much to his shock, everyone opened presents.

Toshiro opened eleven boxes, some of them from James and the others. James gave him a book about dragons, Sirius gave him a knife set, Remus a wolf plushie, Rangiku a set of books on hexes and jinxes, Hanataro a Healer's helpmate, Yumichika a mirror, Ukitake a box of sweets, Hermione a book on ice spells, Draco a book about magical creatures, the Weasly twins sent him some pranks while their mother sent a jumper she obviously made herself with a dragon on the front and Hinamori sent him a new soul pager.

James opened several prank gifts between Sirius and Remus, and at the bottom of those was one which got his attention pretty quick. It was roughly wrapped, and had no note as to who it was from. Opening it, he held back a curse. It was a silvery cloak.

"James, what's wrong?" asked Sirius.

"Did you know Dumbledore had my Invisibility cloak?"

"What cloak?" said Toshiro. James took the cloak and draped it around Toshiro. It overlapped, covering everything below the neck perfectly.

Rangiku and the others gasped.

Toshiro was missing everything under his neck!

Aside from finding out that Dumbledore had stolen his cloak, everyone rather enjoyed the day.

After the gifts were opened, the wrapping disposed of, and everyone was in a mood for fun, Toshiro had a rather devious idea.

"Who's in the mood for a snowball fight?"

James, catching on to his idea, said "I choose Rangiku, Hanataro and Toshiro."

"Fine, I get Yumichika, Ikkaku and Remus!" declared Sirius.

Everyone went outside, and Toshiro laid down the rules.

"Alright, here are the main rules. No spells other than charms, you have thirty minutes to create a base made of snow, and no one is allowed to hit anyone when we go inside to warm up for a bit."

Sirius and James immediately began hitting everyone with warming charms, while the others began making a base.

Soon the forts were up, and everyone was preparing their ammo. Fifteen minutes later the war was on.

They went inside three hours later, and the official winner was James' team. Toshiro had utterly slaughtered Sirius and Yumichika. Hanataro had nailed Remus more often than not, while Rangiku destroyed Ikkaku.

Sirius was grumbling the entire time they headed in.

"Damn you Prongs! How did you manage to throw such large snow bombs on us?"

Toshiro had a full smirk on his face while James laughed at his best friend.

"Did I forget to mention that Toshiro happens to be in control of an ice-type dragon? And can manipulate the weather with it?"

Remus glared at him, "So that's how you manage to avoid that odd blizzard."

Toshiro was cackling when he went in.

* * *

When they returned to Hogwarts, Sirius and Remus stayed at the Potter mansion. Both planned to help them locate the horcruxes.

By that time Renji had shown up with two odd devices. Both needed to be field tested. One went to the two wizards, the other to Ikkaku and Yumichika.

A week later they found another horcrux...in Sirius' family home. And a third one in the Gringotts vault belonging to Sirius' cousin Bellatrix Lestrange.

They had the goblins destroy those. The rest of the year was spent between pranks with the twins, learning more advanced spells from the books, avoiding Dumbledore who seemed to have increased his more annoying stalker tendencies, and looking for any more soul fragments. Fortunately with the diadem gone the Hollow activity had dropped off.

* * *

Soon the finals came around, and to his immense amusement, Rangiku tied with James for top scores among the first year Gryffindors. Hanataro and Neville tied for Hufflepuff, while Hermione and Draco tied for second place in Ravenclaw. Toshiro had the best marks among any of the first years. A line of O's went down his score sheet, which according to James meant he had scored beyond perfect.

It was the end of term feast, and everyone was talking about one thing, and one thing only. And it wasn't Quidditch related for once.

Earlier that morning Dumbledore had found out his office had become sub-freezing overnight. To make matters worse, the icicles which had hung from the ceiling almost ruined his books, and completely destroyed his stash of lemon drop candies. Fawkes was still trying to recover from his near hypothermia experience in Hagrid's hut. Rumor had it that the headmaster fully planned to expel whoever had attacked his office.

He had no idea that the culprit was the same child that he wanted to force into dying to kill off a madman with dreams of grandeur. Or that the child in question could do much, much worse than completely destroy his office.

Needless to say James and the twins were sending Toshiro thumbs up on a prank well done. They had no clue that the only reason he even did it was to send Dumbledore a message of 'back off or else!'.

So ended another year at Hogwarts...and the castle is still standing, which James thought was rather good since Dumbledore insisted on annoying Toshiro to the point of pranking. James immediately gave Toshiro the book Hagrid had given him. While they were heading back to the Potter Manor...and from there the Seireitei for a full month...James described the many people in the album.

They were met by Sirius and Remus on the platform, and soon the twins had to be dragged (literally) from Padfoot and Moony.

Just another year of oddness.


	2. Chapter 2

Toshiro was actually quite relieved to be back in the Soul Society. He missed the spiritually active realm, and Hogwarts often felt cloying. And the students often made him want a Hollow attack. Which is the reason he could be found in the fourth division, almost begging Hanataro for a headache remedy that the other had learned from Madam Pomphrey.

Which is probably why Captian Unohana was sending more of her division to England for Healer training. (And in an attempt to get his vice captain out of his hair, Byakuya was sending Renji in to Hogwarts. Toshiro had the perfect assignment for him. Infiltrate Slytherin.)

It took him the entire month to finish the backlog of paperwork that was left on his desk from being in Hogwarts most of the year. Thankfully over half of the work in question had been taken care of by Squad thirteen...and the power duo which mostly ran it since Ukitake was ill half the time.

Now he had to deal with a school full of brats, an annoying stalker who ran the place, ridiculous homework, and the feeling of being smothered.

He really hated going to Hogwarts. Something about the place made his relatively patient temper fray faster than normal.

Maybe it was the fact that the guy who ran the place inadvertently killed him.

* * *

Sirius was the first to spot the team sent. Since almost half of the soul fragments had been taken care of, now they had to wait for the investigative team to find the rest.

Still, when the barrier that separates the Hogwarts Express suddenly turns solid without warning, Toshiro feels more than a little pissed off.

They were already late in arriving because of Renji. So now James, Toshiro, and Hanataro had all missed the train. Which meant they had to find another way to get to the school on time. It was James who came up with the solution.

"We apparate there."

"We can't. It says specifically in the rule book that there are wards surrounding the school which prevent apparation onto the grounds."

"Not into Hogsmeade there aren't."

Toshiro opened his mouth to argue about that, then closed it. The book never said anything about Hogsmeade. And since it was a wizarding village, it made since that some people would apparate into it. And the wards haven't been added to since the wizarding world split off from the mundane.

"Fine. But if this doesn't work you are doing all the paperwork when we get back into the Seireitei."

"Deal."

James took them to an obscured spot, shrunk their things, and had them hold on. He pictured a certain place in his mind, a place which he knew quite well, and they disappeared with a pop.

(Elsewhere the Ministry alarms for unauthorized magic in muggle settings had gone off. The culprit was never found.)

They landed rather spectacularly in a rundown shack, which looked like a tornado had hit it.

"Where in the hell are we?"

"The Shrieking shack. It's where Moony used to hide each full moon until we became illegal animagi to help him control his wolf side. It was the best place to arrive, since it is well out of any wards and leads directly to the castle. Just watch out for the whomping willow."

They headed out through the tunnel, and ducked the willow.

Which is when Snape found them after receiving an owl from Draco. He glared at them.

"Why are you not on the train?"

"The barrier solidified before we could get through. We had to take an alternate way to the school. James managed to get us here with little trouble."

His glare dropped a notch.

"I assume you came here through the Knight bus?"

"Nope. Apparition to the Shrieking Shack."

Snape turned to them incredulous.

"You...apparated into the shack? How?"

James flashed him a smirk which sent shivers down his spine.

"The same way I knew for a fact that you never jinxed my broom last year. I can apparate, Severus."

Snape took a long look at James, and swore loudly.

"I should have known. So you didn't change your name at all. You're really James Potter come back to make my life hell, aren't you?"

James scowled.

"I came back to make Dumbledore pay and to get rid of the soul fragments Voldemort left. So long as you quit it with the legilmency we won't have any problems."

"What happened to your son? Why did you take his place?"

"Hanataro and I will take our things up early."

* * *

Toshiro was found in the library, hidden under at least fifteen books, two of which were from the restricted section. Ever since last year when Madam Pince had caught him chiding his fellow Ravens to treat books with respect he had been given unofficial access to the Restricted Section, note or no. Apparently the librarian had found a kindred spirit in the white haired child.

Which was just fine by him. He loved to read, and it showed. Every morning if he didn't have homework (it was promptly finished before he left class) he could be found hiding behind a book of some sort. Many Ravenclaw students now had an ongoing bet as to who would read the entire library first. Hermione or Toshiro.

So far Toshiro was winning.

This is the reason why no Slytherin dared to harass a student whenever Toshiro was in the vicinity. He took bullying badly...and the result usually made everyone who was on his list of people he disliked cringe.

Toshiro walked up to the table with a thick book on transfiguration hiding his face entirely. Several of his fellow Ravens gave him a polite hello before asking where he was.

He gave them a non answer, and waited for the feast to begin. He hid a groan when he saw how the youngest Weasly (and only female of the brood) looked at James...and for some reason was glaring at Rangiku.

She joined her brother Ronald and the feast began. Once he reached the dorm room, he put a bookmark in his book and went straight to sleep.

* * *

The next morning he had Defense, Transfiguration and Herbology.

Normally this wouldn't bother him. But he had read up on Lockhart in the Soul Society and found he was an errant fraud with good teeth. Which meant that the class would have to be classed as worthless until proven otherwise. Depending on how bad the man botched it, he might have to boycott the class.

Defense...was horrific. The man had no idea what he was doing, and he put the class in danger from the get go. What sort of idiot asks for the DADA job for an ego boost? Didn't he realize the more studious students would eat him alive?

It did not help in the least that the man had created a test to see how much they had read up on him. Not a single question asked about how he had handled the situations, or even how they would react to those scenarios.

At least the boys of Ravenclaw wouldn't suffer too much. To his amusement, he had been crowned the Raven King of the house. Which meant what he said was considered law among the Ravenclaws...at least among the males. Cho Chang was the Queen of the house, so the females would follow her.

So when Toshiro addressed the boys in his dorm, and told them flat out he was boycotting Lockhart until the man had proven himself a competent teacher of the subject, he found himself with a divided house. Most of the girls were going to continue attending the class, more out of a desire to be in his vicinity. But the boys all agreed with Toshiro...which meant that the class itself would be full of hormonal females. All the boys would spend the period in the library or in study groups reading up or practicing actual defensive spells.

Much to his surprise, Toshiro found himself joined with not only Hufflepuff and Gryffindor boys, but almost the entire Slytherin house. He suspected Renji was behind it.

Renji, as ordered, was sent to the Slytherin house and within hours of meeting his new dorm mates had taken control of the house from within.

Which meant that every house within the school was now officially under their control and not the headmaster.

Once that thought struck him, he realized that he honestly couldn't wait to see the look on the old man's face when he realized that he had completely lost control of the newest crop of pawns in his game. When he realized that, he began carrying around a camera to capture the moment forever. Hyorinmaru actually snickered when he caught that thought from his partner.

* * *

Weeks had passed since the start of term. Between dodging Lockhart (the soul reapers were quite good at this) and homework they were actually enjoying this year. Last year was boring as hell, and the only reason they hadn't gone nuts was because Snape covered for them when they cleansed Hollows.

Now they were solidifying their control of the school. Much to their surprise, Snape was actually helping them with Slytherin.

Then the attack happened. And the whole year was turned upside down. In response to the attack, Lockhart created a dueling club. Toshiro cheered Snape on as he hit the man with a rather nasty spell when used correctly.

Draco was called up to demonstrate the spell, and a hearty debate began as to whether James or Toshiro would be the next up. Toshiro was called up, and he took his position, completely ignoring Lockhart.

They exchanged hexes, before Snape gave Draco a spell he could use.

"Serpensortia!"

"Stiria!*"

Out of Draco's wand came a large black mamba, fangs barred. Out of Toshiro's wand came a blast of ice, larger than Draco.

"Protego!"

The ice hit the shield dead on, showering the other students in snow.

Then they were stunned as Toshiro held out his arm for the snake...and it slithered around it, not once showing aggression. He had a silly little grin on his face.

What Toshiro did next stunned everyone. He hissed. And the mamba hissed back.

Which is when James grabbed Toshiro's other arm and dragged boy and snake outside.

"You're a blood parselmouth? Why didn't you tell me?"

"What?"

"Parselmouth, I/E you speak snake language?"

"Oh that. You know my zanpakuto is a dragon right?"

"Yeah...what has that got to...wait, you mean that you picked it up from your sword?"

"Actually I've always been able to talk to snakes. I just thought it was from having Hyorinmaru as my partner."

"Look, the entire wizarding populace of Britain thinks that being a parselmouth makes you dark. You have to be careful about letting people in on that."

"Including the headmaster?"

"Most likely, why?"

"Because there are plenty of things I would love to do to him which would be considered Dark. And all of them eventually prove fatal."

Toshiro let the snake out into the grounds, where it slithered into the forest.

* * *

Over the next week Toshiro found himself watched by everyone. Even his Ravens. So he did the first thing that came to mind.

He tricked the Ravenclaw students into helping him research spells used by parselmouths. After that the Ravenclaw dorm went back to normal, as Toshiro had awakened their bookworm side.

And found himself practically buried in parselmouth spells. Apparently they took it as a challenge to the house that Gryffindor was concerned about him. Next to Hufflepuff, they had the highest ratio of Muggleborns to pure bloods.

But as Toshiro pointed out loudly, that the ratio had been increasing for years since the wizarding society cut itself off from the normal world and the pure bloods suddenly got caught up in the idea that their blood was better than muggleborns for some odd reason.

Which lead to the now infamous row between Draco Malfoy (pure blood supremest) and Toshiro Hitsugaya (half blood).

Needless to say, Flitwick encouraged the debate to continue for months. As did Sprout once she heard what the actual argument was about.

* * *

Halloween. He loathed Halloween. Why? Because like the name implies, the rate of hollows which showed up jumped from a one in ten chance to a one in three. For some reason the barrier between the spirit world and the human one was thinnest on All Hallow's Eve.

Even though he was Buddhist to a fault, he actually practiced Samhain. Why would a boy who preferred Japanese traditional religions actually practice a Celtic Pagan ritual?

Simple. Samhain was the one night of the year he could talk to his mother Lily, who was bound to his soul until the blood protection failed. Then the magic which prevented her from joining the Soul Society and from turning into a hollow would break and let her join them.

Until then Toshiro waited patiently for Samhain to arrive so he could tell her about his year. Lily enjoyed that night as well, since it was the one night of the year she could spend with him.

Actually that was only part of the reason why he even bothered to practice Celtic traditions. The other part was the fact that unknown to Dumbledore, Lily had been adopted when she was a year old, which meant Petunia was her step sister. Lily Evans was really Lily Cahor, a half Irish, half American witch. She was also a half blood from what she had been able to tell about her ancestors.

Which would make Toshiro a pure blood. Not that anyone was aware of that. Nor was he going to enlighten him. It would only add fuel to Draco's argument and his growing headache when it was brought up.

Why did Toshiro put up with Draco and his mindset that had been growing since the cradle in a pure blood society?

Most people would be shocked to find out the reason is that Toshiro had liked the way he had said his name on the train last year.

He said it with pride, and determination to live up to the name of dragon. And Toshiro had a thing for dragons and snakes. You could just tell by his sword. The day Toshiro realized that little fact Hyorinmaru had been left gasping for breath because he had been laughing his ass off.

Toshiro had deliberately left his body in history to kick said dragon in the bum. And again for good measure. Hyorinmaru was still amused that it took his partner so long to realize that odd quirk. Which resulted in the two of them sparring for hours on end in an attempt for Toshiro to end said amusement.

James still cracked up over that little debacle. It attracted the attention of not only the dour Snape, but the headmaster, McGonagall and the astronomy teacher. They had to cancel classes for two days looking for the enormous ice dragon which had been seen, and even then Snape looked pissed at Toshiro.

To which he snappishly replied,_ "How the hell was I supposed to know that Hyorinmaru was physically visible when we were fighting?"_

This was the day before Halloween.

He still hated it.

Even though Nick had blackmailed James into going to his death day party to impress some headless ghosts, and he flat out refused to be dragged into his mess, he hated it.

So James did the only sensible thing. He went dressed for the occasion. Rangiku had been blackmailed into it as well, so Toshiro was enjoying some well deserved quiet time.

Or so he desperately hoped.

Instead the feast ends and the whole school goes up in arms because the cat that belonged to the squib caretaker Filch had been petrified...James and Rangiku had the unfortunate luck of being on the scene when the other students found said cat.

So Toshiro went with James, cursing the entire way in Japanese. Snape raised an eyebrow at him in question.

Then he went straight to Dumbledore and said point blank "James and Rangiku were at Nick's death day party for hours. There is no way they could have petrified the damn cat, and I know for a fact they wouldn't know how."

"And how do you know this?" he asked in his grating grandfather tone.

Toshiro held up a cell phone. Much to their shock it still worked. James had one up as well, and told them about the text he sent Toshiro.

"We happen to have phones that work. James sent me a message just after they left, and followed a series of hissing. That is the only reason they found Mrs. Norris."

Eventually they were let go, and Toshiro promptly crashed on the bed. He was asleep within minutes.

* * *

The next month was full of whispers, and the headache potions simply weren't cutting it. He needed a place to relax, even for five minutes. Something he wasn't going to get with the school the way it was.

So he hid in the one place everyone avoided for general reasons.

It was A) a girl's bathroom, and B) it had a particularly whiny ghost named Myrtle inhabiting it.

He could live with whiny. But when she started the moaning which earned her name, Toshiro snapped and told her to shut up before he exorcized her.

(Fringe benefit of being a Soul Reaper in a school full of former wizards turned ghosts? You can exorcize said ghosts and people won't realize it was you. You can also punch the ever annoying poltergeist in the nose and actually break it. This is what Toshiro usually did to relieve stress.)

This had the benefit of getting her to flee to the U bend, and finally shutting up.

Toshiro leaned against the sink, enjoying the quiet. Contrary to popular belief, the library is not the quietest place in the school.

It's the loudest.

Myrtle's bathroom however, was the only quiet spot in the school where no one would look for him at all. Mostly because he was a boy, but also because of the bitchy ghost girl.

This is how he accidentally found the Chamber of Secrets. And since it was a Sunday and there was no class, he went exploring.

And now he was looking in the scaled face of the biggest damn snake skin he had ever seen. And for some reason he was happy about that fact. The only snake that would be this big and still alive (and it was alive from the look of that skin) was a basilisk. Which would explain the cat being petrified, since there was water on the floor.

Basilisk's have a unique cornea which is fatal to mortals.

Fortunately for him, he was already dead.

So he went in.

_'Wow...whoever decorated this place should have their license revoked. I like snakes but this is just...tacky.'_

Then another thought occurred to him.

The place was completely quiet, aside from the water dripping, which was actually quiet soothing. And it was freezing.

He loved it.

He left the place after a couple of hours, his headache finally going away for the first time in weeks.

* * *

His first task on Monday was to ask McGonagall for a few spells. Three of them he had to ask Flitwick for.

Then the next Sunday another student had been attacked. Which is why he was currently hiding in the chamber, and redecorating it.

He honestly didn't expect to see the infamous monster of Slytherin come up behind him and try to eat him.

"_Do you mind? I'm trying to make this place easier to relax in without getting wet!"_ said Toshiro annoyed.

The snake stopped and looked at him.

"_Why do you not use the ante chamber?"_

Toshiro looked at it without actually looking in the eyes.

"_There is an ante chamber? Could you please show me where?"_

The basilisk nodded to the left and said "_The password is Astriel."_

"_Your name?"_

The snake hissed, pleased.

"_You wouldn't happen to be the one attacking the muggleborn students, would you?"_

Another hiss.

"_Would you please stop? The resulting chatter and whispering from the students gives me a migraine."_

"_I am bound to serve the line of Gryffindor."_

That made him jump.

"_Wait. Gryffindor was a snake speaker?"_

"_Salazar was the one to put me here when Godric refused to kill me. He could speak as well, so he often kept me company."_

"_I happen to be Gryffindor's heir. So would you please quit attacking others?"_

"_On one condition. You keep me company and fed. I haven't eaten properly since Salazar left."_

Toshiro was amused to say the least. Here was a snake who was bored and in the mood for company from a dead kid with white hair and odd abilities.

"_Any preference to meat?"_

"_Beef."_

"_I'll bug the house elves for as much meat as I can carry."_

"_Thanks. I'm off to take a nap."_

"_Night, Astriel."_

Toshiro then walked up to the spot indicated and said _"Astriel."_

It slid away to reveal a comfortable chamber with a roaring fire which only produced light, not heat. Clearly Salazar preferred the cold too. Then he snorted.

_'Correction, he loved the cold. Why else would the Slytherin dorms be in the cold dungeons?' _thought Toshiro.

He spent a good portion of the day simply catching up on his reading. Astriel came in around an hour later and curled up around the chair. Toshiro kept laying his hand on his head and scratched it. The snake seemed to really like that.

It eventually saw what he was reading and said in a conversational manner "_You know if a snake lives long enough it can develop wings and become an Asian dragon. At least that's what Salazar once said to me."_

He looked interested. Then when he turned the page he found an allusion to an old legend about a serpent becoming a dragon. It didn't say how it managed that feat.

He had to leave, but not before promising to come the next Sunday. Astriel apparently liked his new master.

* * *

On Monday everyone was talking about Toshiro. And not in a good way. Someone had finally noticed he went missing every Sunday. When the teachers asked where he was, he told them a half truth.

"Is it against the rules to try and find a place where I can read in peace? Everywhere I can go around here is full of people talking and it's giving me a damn headache!"

Madam Pomphrey was on his side, vouching for the fact that he had come in multiple times during the last few weeks complaining of a major migraine.

That appeased the teachers, though now he had to have witnesses for where he went in case he was attacked.

* * *

Then Christmas came again.

Toshiro decided to bring Astriel out with him. He had finally found the legend concerning a snake becoming a dragon and was determined to pull it off.

Since he was in no mood for dealing with the hustle and bustle of King's Cross, he suggested to the others that they stay behind this year.

James seemed a little disappointed. He had wanted another big Christmas bash at the Potter mansion.

"Come on 'Shiro!" whined James.

Toshiro hated that nickname. Momo always called him that, even when he reached the rank of captain.

"You will do all the paperwork when we get back," said Toshiro.

James winced. He remembered the avalanche of papers that had awaited them back at the office last year. It had been horrific, and took an entire month of nonstop work to clear it off.

And that was with the rather rambunctious Rangiku actually helping for a change.

"Why do you want to stay in this drafty castle this year?"

"Because I feel like annoying the goat," answered Toshiro.

James smirked evilly.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place!"

Toshiro felt like smacking him. Unlike James, he didn't feel a compulsive need to prank people.

"I'll tell Sirius and Remus that we're staying behind to prank. They'll understand."

* * *

Dumbledore wondered why the Ice Prince decided to stay this time. Then worried for his sanity.

It could not be a good thing if Toshiro, the Ice Prince of Ravenclaw decided to stay behind.

* * *

James followed his son into the Chamber. He had worried when Toshiro vanished for hours on end.

And when he saw the giant snake inside the Chamber, he nearly flipped.

"Toshiro!"

The boy looked annoyed.

"Dammit... I had hoped to finish what I was doing before you followed me down here."

"Not a chance! Since when does a father not worry about his own son?"

Toshiro winced. He had long since forgotten what it felt like to have someone give a damn what happened to you.

"Anyway, what's with the snake?"

"This is Astriel. Astriel was apparently Gryffindor's pet snake, which he refused to kill. Salazar brought her down here so he could have some company," said Toshiro.

James stared at him in disbelief.

"I am currently trying to help Astriel become a dragon."

James sputtered in shock.

"The only way to turn a snake into a dragon is with a rare orb that has been lost for centuries!"

"Damn."

"Anyway, why don't we leave this damp place?" suggested James. He didn't like it one bit.

"I like it here. No more brats hanging about me, the air is just the right temperature, and the air doesn't feel so cloying."

James paused. Now that he thought about it, the air was easier to breathe down here. Like it was charged with enough spiritual energy to fill a room!

"_Oh that. Salazar put some orb or such in here a while back. It's been acting up since Tom left though."_

Toshiro looked at the serpent.

"_Where is this orb?"_

"_Inside my sleeping chambers. He left it there for me to guard, before he left the school."_

"_May I enter your chamber?"_

"_Go for it."_

Toshiro hissed at the relief in the back, and the mouth opened up. He took his wand, and began to climb into it.

The air became more dense. Toshiro felt his chest undo the knot which had built up since leaving the Soul Society.

Suddenly he could see inside. There was enough light to put his wand down.

A violet orb glowed in the center of the room. He barely noticed the scent of the scales, and walked carefully through the room. The orb pulsed in time with his spirit energy. Hyorinmaru began to grow stronger in it's presence.

_'Ryuido...'_ whispered Hyorinmaru.

Toshiro blinked. The orb's name was Dragon Well?

When Toshiro picked the orb up, he felt surge of power flow through him. The orb flared in his hands...

And vanished without a trace.

Toshiro blinked several times. The orb was gone. And he didn't feel that different.

He crawled out of the small chamber. Astriel hissed in a low tone. She could feel the power inside his body. Toshiro went to scratch her eye ridge, and he felt something answer in response.

Astriel glowed violet. Her scales began falling off without warning. Her eyes became slitted and turned a bright crimson color. The scales turned from dark green to icy silver. She sprouted long limbs that had sharp talons. On her back sprang ice blue wings. Two long tendrils flowed out from her jaws.

She was no longer a basilisk. She was a dragon.

She whipped back and saw her new wings. She flapped them experimentally.

"_Can I fly?"_

"Probably," said James weakly.

Toshiro looked at James in amusement.

"You can understand her now?"

James nodded. Then an idea hit him.

"You know, since she isn't a real monster anymore I think she deserves an easier to say name."

Toshiro blinked.

"You may have a point. Astriel isn't exactly a good name for a dragon. Well since she is from the Chamber of Secrets...how about Arcana?"

"Arcana, huh?" said James.

"It means Secret in Latin."

James looked over the new dragon in appreciation.

"I think it suits her. So how the hell are we going to get her out of this place?"

Toshiro blanched. He hadn't thought of that. There was a good chance she wouldn't fit through the pipes anymore.

Arcana started this weird hum. Her form began to shrink until she could fit around Toshiro's neck like a scarf. James snickered.

"That actually suits you."

"Well Arcana, how would you like to see the rest of the castle?"

Arcana hissed in pleasure.

"Here's an idea. Arcana, can you stay out of sight until Christmas? Then we could say you were a present from Sirius or something," said James.

Toshiro liked that idea. That would cut down the awkward questions.

* * *

Toshiro had a bit of fun during Christmas.

Why? Because he utterly slaughtered Hagrid, the twins, James, Rangiku and Renji in a massive snowball war. To add to their defeat, Toshiro had enchanted fifty snowmen to dance the cancan...complete with victory poses.

James, Sirius and Remus had all howled with laughter when they saw the snowmen.

In a spark of mischief, Toshiro found the perfect spot to ambush people at random. He blended in perfectly with the wall thanks to the invisibility cloak.

Whenever someone walked past his spot, he would wait until the perfect moment to come out and shout "Boo!"

The results were hilarious, since the spot he chose was close to the great hall. It usually resulted in spilled food/drinks, and the victim cursing in a blue streak.

Of course it didn't hurt that Toshiro was very fast on his feet. Half of his victims would chase him through the halls, only to lose him halfway.

Toshiro really enjoyed the looks of shock over Arcana. He really enjoyed the look of anger towards him by Ron. During Christmas break he had really gotten hit with pranks.

He was Toshiro's favorite scaring victim.

The twins, when they learned what Toshiro did, decided to take it upon themselves to do the same. Only instead of using a cloak, they cast the disillusionment charm.

Needless to say they frightened many first years and Slytherins with that trick.

* * *

For the next few months, people wondered why there were no more attacks. The potion which would cure Mrs. Norris and the other victims was almost ready.

Then came the shock of the year, as Ginny Weasly went missing. Another blood red noticed was left below the first.

_Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever._

Toshiro, when he read that, scowled fiercely. That was _his_ special spot, dammit!

So it was with great annoyance that he went straight to the Chamber...only to find Lockhart waiting for him with a pompous smirk.

Toshiro glared...his reitsu flared wildly in annoyance. Until the man leveled his wand at him.

That was when something snapped in Toshiro.

Without warning, Hyorinmaru appeared behind him, and hissed. Lockhart, eyes wide, started to back up. Only to find himself flash frozen to the floor.

Toshiro had had enough of Lockhart, so he said "Oh Myrtle...how would you like to tell this idiot all about your problems? I can make it so he can't talk back."

Myrtle was more than happy to complain to Lockhart, who had been hexed so thoroughly that he couldn't speak. He couldn't move either, which meant he was unable to break the spells on him. For the next five hours, Myrtle complained, whined and moaned.

By the time anyone went to look for him, she had passed on to the next life, happy to finally get all her problems out.

Lockhart, on the other hand, ended up with a severe case of frostbite and had to get several appendages removed.

* * *

Toshiro went through the tunnel with ease.

The door opened without him doing anything, having been reset to his specific aura. Though whoever had broken in had used the old standby that he left alone.

When he reached the Chamber, he found Ginny unconscious with a wraith standing above her.

The wraith seemed furious for some reason, and he had a good idea why.

Arcana no longer lived in the Chamber.

The wraith turned, and saw him. It sneered.

Toshiro felt like yawning. The sooner he got rid of that partial soul, the sooner he could have his special spot back. He ditched the gigai and went at the wraith with a vengeance.

Tom Riddle, as it turned out, was Voldemort. The man looked _very_ surprised when Toshiro punted his sorry bum through the Chamber and back.

Even more so when Toshiro freed his soul from the Diary only to cut him in half when he started to transform.

Toshiro collected Ginny, having resolved a few anger issues through violence, and carried her through the tunnel until they were almost out. Arcana flew them to the top of the hole, and by the time she woke up, Ginny had no idea where she had been.

Toshiro helped Ginny to the Hospital Wing, claiming to have found her in an unused part of the castle and not knowing how to get back. Ginny, who agreed it was better than dealing with her mother after being controlled for the better part of a year, did not dispute his claim.

As it was, the entire nightmare of the Chamber of Secrets (and the attacks) was played down to one of the upper year Slytherins playing a very tasteless joke on the school. No one would come forth and claim the credit, for obvious reasons.

Lucius Malfoy was in for a rather rude shock when Toshiro dropped the book he had planted in Ginny's cauldron.

"I don't give a damn how you dispose of your Dark artifacts," said Toshiro, "But if you ever cross me again, I will kill you in the most painful ways imaginable and then proceed to make your afterlife a living hell."

Somehow, Lucius didn't doubt that. When he handed the book to Dobby, the house elf found a tie that Toshiro had 'lost'. The house elf was very happy to be free, and very soon he was employed to the Weasly clan in exchange for a few days off every month.

All in all, a very tiresome but successful year.

* * *

**_*Stiria is Latin for icicle._**


	3. Chapter 3

Toshiro was in a foul mood. Right before the end of the second year, he learned from James that Dumbledore was suspicious of Toshiro.

Very suspicious. Word had gotten around that somehow Toshiro had discovered the Chamber of Secrets and had disposed of the monster.

Naturally the teachers were all very concerned about him going down there regularly. (Toshiro decided not to feel offended by that fact, since a good majority of those teachers showed honest concern for his safety.)

So in an effort to keep his growing migraine from returning fully, he allowed the to investigate the passageway that lead up to the castle.

(He knew there had to be one. There was no chance in hell that Salazar could keep going back to the girl's bathroom and still keep that Chamber a secret unless he had another way in and out.)

Once that was done (and the house elves were sent in during the summer for some heavy duty maintenance) Toshiro decided once and for all to end Dumbledore's control over him.

And to that end, he went straight to the headmaster with the darkest scowl on his face. He was going to resolve this issue now.

"Hello Toesheero my boy!"

And here, Toshiro mused, is where Dumbledore draws the line at languages. Clearly he had never bothered to properly learn Japanese.

"You know over a hundred languages and yet you still can't speak nihongo properly?" said Toshiro, not amused.

"What can I do for you my boy?"

"I'm not 'your' anything, especially since your negligence caused my death. I am here to tell you right now that if you even _think_ of trying to control our group, I will personally hunt you down and drag your soul to hell. Though with the way you've been going you'll end up there anyway."

Dumbledore's eyes glinted coolly. Toshiro had been a mystery since he saw the initials on that letter to his pawn. A letter which could only have been opened by Harry Potter himself.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever heard the old saying 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions?' The same could apply to your so called doctrine of the greater good," Toshiro said bluntly.

Toshiro reacted faster than even Dumbledore could anticipate, when the old man used wordless/wandless magic to stun him.

Not that anything lower than a very high powered reducto could actually _hurt_ Toshiro and his group. Let alone effect them.

(Color changing and personal charms cast by them yes, but nothing less than the strongest reducto or bludgeoning curse was going to actually bother them, aside from a slight twinge where it hit.)

Toshiro leveled Hyorinmaru (who had switched from 'wand' mode the second the old man cast that hex at them) on his throat.

"Let me make one thing abundantly clear, old man. Your time is coming very soon, and when it does, I am going to petition to Avalon and the Seireitei personally to send your sorry ass to hell. Chances are they will accept my request. So if you don't want to die prematurely, back off."

It was then that Dumbledore finally met his match...in a child that was supposed to become his pawn.

Toshiro left that office after turning it into a subzero arctic hell. (To be fair, since coming to that school he learned that he was the strongest ice mage in a millennium. And since dragons tended to boost ice magic, he used that instead of his soul reaper powers.)

That all happened a week ago.

* * *

Toshiro was almost done with his paperwork (and the backlog from going to that damn school for nine months) when James came in looking somewhat grim.

"Pettigrew and the Lestrange trio have escaped Azkaban."

"And that is _where_ exactly?" asked Toshiro.

"An isolated island guarded by the foul beasts known as dementors. I would rather face a Menos again that deal with those things."

"How bad are they?"

"They dredge up your worst memories and make you relive them."

Toshiro winced. He had plenty of memories he wanted to _stay _buried, for good reason.

"Is there any chance we will have to deal with the dementors?"

"Knowing that old goat and the idiot in charge...yes. If there is even a slight chance that Pettigrew will come to Hogwarts, then Dumbledore will allow Fudge to send them. Those things could cause more problems."

And so, they spent a good portion of their summer preparing for the worst...namely dealing with dementors.

It didn't help that James had mentioned their supposed 'Kiss' which sucked out the soul of the victim.

(Upon hearing that, the captain of squad twelve became interested in them.)

"Alright, so we are in agreement over the dementors?" asked Toshiro.

His invasion force had been briefed and taught the patronus charm. Toshiro had made them practice relentlessly for hours until it could become almost solid to the touch.

When they went back to the world of the living two weeks early, they learned of some other surprising news.

Sirius had been given the Defense post at Hogwarts!

Upon learning that news, Toshiro warned the man ahead of time what he would be facing in terms of their previous years. Sirius winced.

"I have to deal with two years of crappy teaching?"

"Quirrel couldn't talk without stuttering and Lockhart was more interested in promoting himself. Look at the bright side."

"There's a bright side?" he asked in a whine.

"Yes, there is. You will be secure in the knowledge that none of the houses will be aiming for your head, and that I will personally charm your office to prevent any curses, hexes or nasty spells from hitting you if you run for you life."

Toshiro let out a squawk of surprise when Sirius tackled him. It didn't take long for an impromptu dog pile to occur.

(Rangiku and Hanataro were on the sidelines laughing.)

* * *

Toshiro and James got their books for the year. Renji had been the one to draw the short straw and went into the apothecary for the potions supplies. Hanataro was currently keeping Hermione from seeing Toshiro buying more than the required books.

It wasn't until they went into the pet store to check out their wares that something interesting happened.

James looked around. He was often bored in the soul society, and he wanted something to entertain him. Toshiro had Arcana and Hyorinmaru. Rangiku had bought a cat named Crookshanks the year before. Renji had gotten a strange rabbit-like creature (which he promptly gave to Rukia Kuchiki for Christmas). Even Hanataro had a pet.

Though where that kid found a windy phoenix he had no idea.

Finally, he went into the Owl Emporium. And found two owls he really liked.

One was a snowy owl with an imperial manner about her. The other was an Eagle owl with streaks of gold in it's feathers.

"How much for both of them?" he asked.

"That little lady refuses to be sold. Two galleons for her and ten for the other."

"Done."

James had an idea who she would take to. When he found Toshiro trying to calm Arcana down from a comment Marcus Flint had made in passing, he grinned.

"Oi, Toshiro!"

Toshiro glared at him. Didn't he see he was busy?

James handed him the cage with the snow owl. She gave an imperious hoot, and leveled a glare at him.

"What is this?"

"Your birthday present."

Toshiro stifled a groan. Despite the fact that he had already_ died, _James insisted on getting him something every July thirty first. Fortunately it was mostly books.

"I already have Arcana."

"So? This little lady is a snow owl, and they are built for extremely cold temperatures."

Toshiro looked at the owl in the cage. She seemed more like an empress in her own castle than an owl.

"You want to be in that cage, or would you like to share a shoulder with Arcana?" he asked finally.

She hooted, and looked at his unoccupied left shoulder. Arcana preferred to ride like a scarf most days. Toshiro removed the owl gently, and she walked onto his shoulder.

"From now on your name is Tsukishiro (White Moon)."

Tsukishiro hooted calmly, and remained on his shoulder the entire day.

(Needless to say, Rangiku found it hilarious that her captain kept collecting animals. Toshiro retaliated by freezing every sake bottle in her reach.)

* * *

Toshiro was reading up on bird magic (he had bought it after James gave him Tsukishiro) when Draco arrived. Sirius was already waiting in the castle (and was currently preparing a major prank on every teacher in the welcoming feast.)

Draco raised an eye at Tsukishiro.

"Another pet? How many will this make Toshiro?"

"Three. If you include Hyorinmaru, who is more of a partner than a pet. Her name is Tsukishiro."

"White moon?"

Toshiro didn't bother to explain his reasoning. As Draco sat down to discuss the news about the break out, the other soul reapers (including James who was with the twins) spread out around the train.

None of them were in the same train car as another soul reaper. It was part of Toshiro's plan to protect the students. He didn't trust the Ministry to keep control of their so called guards.

Sirius promised to bring the children up to speed so they could learn the charm as well.

About two thirds of the way to the station, the train abruptly stopped.

Toshiro swore when he realized the glass was freezing over, and for once it wasn't his fault.

(Last year he had a nightmare about the Dursley clan, and his dorm had suffered through a rather unpleasant night in the cold. Ever since then, they had started to put warming charms around their beds just in case.)

It took a minute for the dementors to board the train. The presence of soul reapers had a repellent effect on the foul creatures. Particularly to Toshiro, who was at captain class.

A slimy hand slowly opened the door. Toshiro snarled, and reached for Hyorinmaru.

The creature drew a ragged breath, drawing in all the positive emotions from the compartments on that car. Toshiro leveled his sword at the creature, his rage at being forced to remember his past keeping the effects of the dementor's presence at bay.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_

Out of all the soul reapers assigned to finding the soul fragments of Voldemort, Toshiro picked up the patronus charm the fastest. A brilliant silver version of Hyorinmaru erupted from his wand. The dementor shrieked in pain as it ripped into the creature. The patronus shredded the dementors cloak, and the foul beast fled the train before the patronus could destroy it.

Toshiro breathed heavily. The charm took a lot out of him, particularly when he fueled it with his anger.

All across the train, dementors shrieked out of pain as the soul reapers chased them off. Every single one that had boarded the cars looking for an easy meal was wounded badly from the patronus charms.

By the time the train reached the station, everyone was both on edge and relieved that the dementors had been chased off so quickly.

Of course Toshiro was still suffering from the effects of being exposed to them.

James easily helped him on the carriage (which they had learned last year was pulled by spectral horses known as thestrals) and they went straight to the castle.

Toshiro winced as they passed by the so called 'guards' of the castle.

"You alright?"

"I hate those damn things. Think anyone will care if I vent my rage on them later?"

"Doubtful. At least you know there is one place in the castle they can't go to."

Toshiro looked at him in annoyance.

"If any of those _things_ shows up in the Chamber, I will flash freeze them and punt their sorry asses to Kurotsuchi."

James grinned. That was the Toshiro he knew and loved.

Draco made sure Toshiro could get to the table before his legs gave out. Unfortunately several of his housemates noticed and he growled about the dementors.

That cleared up the mystery for them, enough so that they left him alone.

Toshiro wasn't surprised when the entire staff table (except Sirius of course) suddenly had their hair turned pink. Or when they all grew cat ears!

"Be forewarned. I will prank you at random times during class. If you don't keep your guard up, you will end up with a new hair color at the very least!" grinned Sirius, waving his hand at Snape.

Snape looked ready to hex him at the very least.

The twins took one look at the prank and cheered, loudly. Sirius bowed towards them, and the three grinned.

Snape and McGonagall shared a look of doom.

* * *

Toshiro actually looked forward to this year. It was simple really.

Third years were allowed to pick their own classes. Toshiro had gone with Ancient Runes, Arithimancy, Care of Magical Creatures and Advanced Transfiguration and Charms. (The last two were only available to students who turned in straight Outstanding worthy homework without fail. It was to prepare them early for their OWLs and NEWTs.)

Rangiku had opted to join James in the relatively easier classes like Divination and Muggle Studies. (As soul reapers, they were only slightly behind wizards when it came to understanding nonmagical items. While they were at least able to use cell phones and television properly, the rules and clothing of modern society still eluded them.)

Hanataro had the hardest schedule, as he had been given the rare opportunity to become an apprentice to the school's healer. It meant he had to take the harder classes early on, but it also meant he had been given unlimited access to the Restricted Section.

Renji would choose his new classes by next year. If nothing else he could join James and Rangiku.

Toshiro was about to enter the Ancient Runes classroom when he noticed something odd. Hermione had beaten him to the class.

Which was strange considering he had just seen her at breakfast talking to James not five minutes ago. And she certainly hadn't passed him in the halls.

Passing it off as a random occurrence, Toshiro sat through the class. Hermione didn't seem any different than usual.

Once the class was over, Toshiro went to meet up with James and Rangiku. Only to overhear a rather strange comment made by Hermione who was coming down with them.

_What on Earth?_

"Divination is a very wooly subject if you ask me. Now Ancient Runes...that is a fascinating subject."

"Hang on, Ancient Runes takes place during the same time slot as Divination. When did you have time to pop in that class?" asked James, surprised.

Hermione immediately shut up, not wanting to reveal more than she already had.

James walked up to Toshiro with confusion clear on his face.

"How can Hermione have been in Ancient Runes when she was sitting next to Rangiku the entire period?" he asked.

"She beat me to the class, and I was next to her the entire time," said Toshiro evenly, though even he was confused how that was possible.

"Doppelganger?" suggested James.

"Doubtful. I have yet to run across a spell like that, and we both know she doesn't have access to a gigai."

"Her reitsu was the same as it always was."

"I didn't notice any odd changes either," said Toshiro.

"What classes is she taking?"

"All that were available, apparently," said Toshiro, who had seen her bizarre schedule and hadn't thought to ask.

Draco had commented on it, which is the only reason he had taken an interest.

* * *

Hagrid had been promoted to 'safe adult' by Dumbledore, and given the new title of teacher. He had gotten one of the rare teaching spots that didn't actually involve wandwork in any way.

Hagrid was the new Care of Magical Creatures instructor. While Toshiro and the others were happy for them, it meant they all had a sense of foreboding.

Hagrid's sense of what was safe only applied to those of mixed blood, like Hagrid.

(Hagrid had been very surprised to learn that Toshiro had figured out he was half giant. And had been very, very happy to find out that none of their group actually _cared_ about the fact his mother was a giantess.)

"I got a real treat for yer today. Follow me!"

Toshiro had an ominous sense when he followed Hagrid. Some of that was lessened when he found out the creature Hagrid was introducing to the group.

Hippogryffs were dangerous only if they felt insulted. Or if threatened.

Now if only Hagrid had had enough sense _not_ to introduce them to the Slytherin group without Renji to keep them in check...

Most of the students backed off when Hagrid told them what they had to do. The creatures seemed very frightening to a bunch of thirteen year olds.

Toshiro calmly walked up to the gray one, and gave it a proper Japanese bow of equals. The hippogryff, whose named turned out to be Buckbeak, bowed back.

It seemed to rather enjoy the scratched Toshiro gave him.

"Well done Toshiro, well done! I think he may let yer ride him..."

Toshiro squawked with surprise when Hagrid suddenly put him on the hippogryff.

Buckbeak was feeling mischievous, as he took off without warning.

(Toshiro could hear Hyorinmaru laughing at him. Which is why later the boy chased his zanpakuto around in his inner world with a serrated sword.)

Toshiro landed easily, and grinned. That had actually been fun!

Draco, emboldened by Toshiro's success, went up to Buckbeak and bowed.

Toshiro gave the boy a look that clearly told him to behave or else.

(Draco did in fact behave, if only to keep the teal eyed boy from giving him frozen sheets for a week.)

In what would later be called a grave miscalculation on his part, Ron accidentally insulted the alpha hippogryff. It was only quick intervention on Toshiro's part that prevented the boy from being injured.

Toshiro's reitsu flared, and the hippogryff leveled a look at him. Toshiro's calm demeanor finally managed to soothe the irate beast, which gave Hagrid enough time to lead him away from the students.

It seemed that in all the excitement, Hagrid completely forgot to give them any homework.

* * *

"That was a close one," said James.

"Why did an idiot like him choose a subject that demands respect for magical creatures?" asked Toshiro, vexed.

"Care of Magical Creatures is one of the easiest subjects to take. I overheard Ron mentioning that he was only taking the easy subjects so his mother wouldn't get on his case."

"The way that boy is going, the only thing he will be good for is for something that actually requires brawn instead of brains. Unless the magical community has chess tournaments or something."

"They don't," said James.

"Then he needs to straighten himself out, or he will never get a decent salary to support himself later on."

* * *

Toshiro entered Sirius' classroom warily. He had learned from the twins that the man actually took his teaching job well...seriously. (Though if the man made another pun about his own name he was going to hex his hair Slytherin green and silver.)

It was because of his wariness that he narrowly avoided the prank Sirius had set up.

What the students didn't realize was that Sirius was actually testing their situational awareness in a relatively safe environment.

While they were mostly avoiding prank spells now, there was no telling when they would have to avoid deadly curses or hexes in the future.

At least that was what Sirius told his fellow professors. Truthfully he just loved pranking people without having to worry about an irate McGonagall after him.

Hermione sat three seats away from Toshiro.

He had noted with some concern that she seemed rather...frayed lately. And he suspected her ability to take two classes at once was the cause. Draco sat next to him, grimacing.

He had been hit with a color changing hex that wouldn't wear off for three hours. Instead of the usual platinum blond, it was now an eye screaming orange color.

"Isn't Sirius your uncle on your mother's side?" asked Toshiro, amused.

"All pure-bloods in Europe are interrelated in some way. Frankly when I graduate I'm moving to Japan and finding someone who isn't my distant cousin in some way to marry," said Draco bluntly.

"Good way to avoid having web-toed children," remarked Toshiro.

Once the room was more or less filled up, Sirius walked in with an evil grin.

"I trust some of you are enjoying my tests?"

Draco wasn't the only one glaring at the man. At least fifteen students had been hit with prank spells. Sirius wisely kept very, very close to his office.

(His office had been set so that he could hide behind the door and be completely safe from any retribution from the students. Alas, that didn't mean he was safe from Snape, since there _was_ a fireplace in his office which the man could use to appear without warning to prank him back.)

"Today we are going to be reviewing what everyone has already learned for the past two years, so I can tell how much work we need to do."

Sirius passed out sheets with spell names and told them to fill out what they knew about them. If they could properly name the effect and wand movement, then they had learned the spell.

If not, then he had more work to do.

Sirius reviewed the papers, and was relieved to find that the Ravenclaws at least, had managed to more or less keep up to Ministry standards.

Hufflepuff had also managed to correctly identify over seventy-five percent of the spells he listed.

"Since you have more or less managed to learn spells that any third year should know, I shall give both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw twenty points each."

Surprise by this announcement, Sirius continued with a grimace.

"Unfortunately the Gryffindor and Slytherin group didn't do nearly as well."

Sirius proceeded to have them pair up in groups, and gave them a new spell to learn. He had one half cast the spell for fifteen minutes, the other would use the shield charm to block it. Then they would switch off. He continued in this way for the entire lesson, giving them three new spells to study.

For homework they had to write a two page essay on what the spells did, what the correct movement was, and what could be an acceptable replacement if they couldn't remember how it went.

Toshiro stayed behind class, and remarked, "You make a better teacher then I thought."

He then ducked out when Sirius went to hit him with another prank for the comment.

* * *

The days seemed to fly by at Hogwarts. Though Toshiro was starting to narrow down why Hermione seemed to be stretched too thin. James had mentioned offhand about a magical artifact which could reverse time in hour increments, and it was difficult finding information about it.

On the other hand, Hogsmeade wasn't far away, which meant Toshiro could finally leave the castle for a few hours.

All of them had gotten their permission slips signed by either their captain (Renji and Hanataro) or by the Soutaicho. It was highly unlikely that Dumbledore would be able to prevent them from going since none of them had living parents anymore.

Their first visit was set after the usual Gryffindor/Slytherin match.

Normally Toshiro would have avoided going, but he had given in to Draco and James tag teaming on him. (In other words, James bribed Draco to drag Toshiro there whether he liked it or not.)

It had been going well...until near two hours after it had begun, Toshiro felt a familiar chill. He swiped Draco's goggles, not that the boy could see anything in the rain anyway.

"Shimatta! Those damn creatures are on the pitch!" yelled Toshiro.

Draco paled, when he followed Toshiro's pointing finger.

"They aren't supposed to be here!"

Toshiro spotted the creatures flying up into the clouds to chase James. He swore, and grabbed Hyorinmaru from his leg holster.

Before Draco could stop him, Toshiro jumped from the stands.

No one actually noticed what he had done until the rain suddenly became a snowstorm!

The dementors honed in on him very quickly, as if sensing a true feast nearby.

Toshiro held Hyorinmaru like he usually did, not realizing the dragon was still in 'wand' mode.

"_Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!"_

Even without being in his proper shape, Hyorinmaru emerged from the wand tip. The icy dragon ripped through the dementors like they were make of paper.

Toshiro almost couldn't hear the cries of alarm from the students. Realizing that they wouldn't survive if they stayed, the remaining dementors fled.

Over thirty dementors were frozen to the pitch, unable to move. Fortunately, Toshiro's powers also prevented theirs from working...or the teacher's spells from removing the horrid creatures from their icy prisons.

James landed with a thump, the dementors effects slowly wearing off.

Toshiro ran to him, and checked his vitals.

Hanataro went down to the pitch, and waved his 'wand' saying _"Levicorpus!"_

They managed to get James into the Hospital wing before Dumbledore knew what was really happening.

* * *

Snape made sure to keep Toshiro behind after class. No one thought to ask why.

"While I appreciate you removing those...things...from the pitch, I would like to ask what the bloody hell you were thinking!"

"Dementors seem to think that _we_ (Toshiro gestured to himself) are food. The damn things keep trying to swarm around us every time we leave the safety of the castle. And I wasn't going to lose one of my friends from falling at such a height," said Toshiro.

"Where did you send those damn things anyway? We thought they had melted or something, because all we could find were small piles of snow left over."

"Trust me, you won't be bothered by the ones I froze anymore. I sent them to a place worse than hell."

Snape seemed doubtful about that.

"You really don't want to _know_ where I sent those things."

"Are you absolutely certain they won't return?"

"Not unless they can escape _him,_ which is highly doubtful considering he likes to dissect his subjects while they are still alive."

"Twenty points to Ravenclaw then," said Snape.

Toshiro took that as the dismissal it was, and left.

(If you're wondering where he sent them, the answer is that he had the twelfth division pick them up sometime during the night.)

* * *

Toshiro patiently waited for James and Rangiku. He was a bit surprised to see them arrive late.

Apparently McGonagall wanted to know why they had their slips signed by the same person as Toshiro. Fortunately Snape had vouched for them.

"So where to first?"

"Honeydukes!" said James cheerfully.

"I want to see the Three Broomsticks, or even Hog's Head. According to Hagrid they serve really good booze there!" said Rangiku with a grin.

"Rangiku, need I remind you that you are currently pretending to be a _thirteen_ year old, and are not legally allowed to drink?" said Toshiro evilly.

Rangiku's face fell at the reminder. Then she perked up.

"You said that they can see us anyway, because of the magic in the air, right?"

"Snape could at least," said Toshiro.

"Then I can ditch this gigai and go drinking later!" she chirped.

"No, you can't. Avalon would get on _my_ ass about why my lieutenant is out in soul form when there isn't a hollow around. And in case you have forgotten, those damn dementors seem to think _we_ are lunch!" growled Toshiro.

"Damn."

James grinned evilly.

"Don't worry Rangiku, we'll just ask Sirius to buy some fire whiskey for later."

Toshiro glared at James, until he asked what Fire Whiskey actually did in large amounts.

Upon learning that his lieutenant would lose all her clothing from spontaneous combustion in front of two men she barely knew, he felt a lot better.

"On your own head be it, but you will have to fill out at least half the paperwork when we get back."

"Deal!"

She hugged Toshiro with a grin. She had no idea what she was in for...

* * *

Toshiro, it turned out, had a serious love for chocolate. He very nearly wiped out the entire stock of it!

(James secretly wondered if his son got that from Remus, who also had a rather large love of the sugary treat.)

The next place was Zonko's, but James didn't hit that as hard as Toshiro expected. When asked, James shrugged and mentioned the twins having better products to use.

It wasn't until they hit the Three Broomsticks that Toshiro learned of a problem.

And it's name was Butterbeer.

Butterbeer was a rather pleasant drink that had a relatively low alcohol content and was sold to minors. The drink was best when served warm.

Toshiro had taken one sip of the stuff, and knew without a doubt he would have to keep his lieutenant from buying it. While the alcohol was at a lower count than she was used to, it was still more than enough to get her drunk.

He only hoped she didn't bring it back with her.

Toshiro got up to get another round (he could already feel a familiar Rangiku-induced headache coming on) when he spotted the two most likely people to help Rangiku obtain the drink.

"I will pay you both ten galleons every month not to help Rangiku obtain butterbeer," he said flatly.

"And why would we do that?" asked Fred.

"Not that we wouldn't mind the extra coin," added George.

"I can only sum it up in two words. Drinking contests."

The two imps grinned at him, but agreed to it anyway. After they managed to get him to raise it to fifteen galleons.

James gave him an odd look.

"What were you up to over there?"

"Preventing our cover from being blown," said Toshiro.

He raised an eyebrow. Toshiro nodded to Rangiku who wasn't paying attention (and was currently working on her tenth butterbeer.)

"Ah."

"I may not be able to control her drinking back home, but I am going to do my best to keep her under control here."

"And how did you manage to get the twins to agree?"

"Fifteen galleons a month not to help her buy any alcohol except on scheduled visits."

"And what about me?" grinned James.

"I will string you up and tell Snape he has free reign to prank you until Christmas. Don't forget, I out rank you."

James winced, and conceded the point.

* * *

Rangiku made it to the seventh corridor. She had ditched her gigai as soon as she was inside the room. Sirius, James and Renji were waiting.

It was the first time they had removed their souls from the gigai in the school.

It wasn't long before Renji and Rangiku were drunk. Sirius and James were somewhat better off, being used to the drink itself.

About halfway to dawn, Rangiku and Renji _both _spontaneously combusted, though only their clothes were harmed.

Sirius gaped at the now naked Rangiku, who was physically around his age in soul form. James wisely kept his eyes away from her, since he knew full well his wife would kill him when she finally freed herself from their son.

By the time morning came, all of them were suffering from major hangovers. Fortunately, it was a Sunday.

Toshiro cautiously opened the door, and immediately closed it. There were some sights no thirteen year old people should see...

* * *

Sirius had become the most unanimously loved/hated teacher in the school. His class was easily the most popular, and it seemed that he might actually be able to break the curse that was on the DADA position.

But he was also the most hated because of his constant pranks on the students and teacher alike.

The students didn't realized _why_ he pranked them. Though they all enjoyed the pranks on the teachers.

(McGonagall often got hit with catnip, Snape kept ending up with his hair in girlish braids, Flitwick got a stepping stool, Sprout found a very frisky plant in her gardens and so on.)

Of course everyone was still wondering how the dementors that invaded the pitch ended up flash frozen...and where they were now.

Only Dumbledore seemed to suspect that Toshiro was the reason those foul beasts had been disposed of.

Toshiro noticed something odd about Rangiku and Sirius. It almost seemed like the two were starting to become interested in each other.

Which would make things very complicated, since his lieutenant was currently in the body of a thirteen year old girl and happened to be dead already.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed that fact. So did James.

Who took Sirius aside and had a tense discussion with the man.

Sirius walked away much happier, but after that the signs seemed to abruptly stop.

Toshiro gave his father a look.

"What in the name of the King did you tell him?" he asked.

"That if he wanted to woo Rangiku, he would have to wait until summer vacation. Like I pointed out to him, he would have more time to prepare if he waited."

"Is patience his strong suit?" asked Toshiro.

"Not particularly, but I blackmailed him into it. Our only concern is if the other teachers start to pick up on the signs as fast as we did."

"That would have been a disaster," groaned Toshiro.

Months seemed to fly by, with only the occasional prank (and every so often a dementor would vanish for no reason, never to be seen again) until without warning, Christmas was around the corner!

"You staying again Toshiro?" asked Sirius, drinking tea.

"I had the idea of sneaking back into my barracks during the break and getting most of the paperwork filled out. The backlog I have to deal with each year is murder," whined Toshiro.

James, who had been there drinking butterbeer, said drunkenly "That's a no go. Old man Yamamoto said that if you tried to sneak away from the school he would double your paperwork."

"Even on the holidays?" yelped Toshiro.

James nodded.

(When the Soutaicho learned about the fact that James was Toshiro's actual father, he ended up treating the man like the captain of squad ten for a while.)

"Damn."

That was when Toshiro had a hit of inspiration.

If he couldn't go to the paperwork, then he would convince Kurotsuchi to find a way to send the paperwork to him! (And force Rangiku to do half of it!)

To that end, he sent a quick message to Kurotsuchi. And got a reply two hours later.

"_Creating a hybrid of the Hell Butterflies that can carry actual objects? It's obsurd, it's beyond insane!_

_I'll get right on it. No doubt that blasted Kisuke Urahara has never thought of such a thing~!"_

Christmas hit Hogwarts with a vengeance. Since Sirius was stuck in the castle (he was a teacher after all) Toshiro and the others opted to stay as well.

Of course things were rarely that simple.

* * *

Toshiro awoke to find a large swarm of hell butterflies at his bed post.

Toshiro had a baaad feeling about this...

Without warning they began to circle around his head. With a loud pop, they rained down all the paperwork he had missed while at the school!

"ARG!"

Draco, having woken up early for his presents, walked in and gaped.

Then the uncontrollable laughter started.

Toshiro growled, and suddenly Draco yelped as his underwear filled with snow!

"Get James in here _now._ And tell Rangiku that she had better uphold her end of the bargain or I will personally die her hair puke green!"

In less than ten minutes, both of them showed up. Rangiku looked really irate about his threat though.

At least until she saw his predicament.

James and Rangiku couldn't stop laughing. And Toshiro blinked when the camera went off.

_Where did James get that camera anyway?_

It took them an hour to sort the paperwork. Toshiro would force Rangiku to help him the next day, since it _was_ a holiday.

Toshiro had planned a special treat for his lieutenant.

Kisuke had sent him a special gigai (it was Rangiku in her actual size!) which Toshiro was going to give her. He had also planned to give her a day off so she could go on the date Sirius had planned for the two of them.

(Sirius had bribed the boy with a rare book on dark ice magic.)

As usual, Toshiro came out like a bandit. He received several gifts from his fans (mostly books, since a majority of those fans were Ravenclaw students) and quite a few from his team.

James had found a book on owl breeding, Rangiku had given him a set of coupons redeemable at any time (most of them were related to her actually doing her job for a change and three liquor free weeks), Hanataro had found a book on water divination which had three chapters on ice mirrors, Renji gave him a stuffed dragon (which cracked Toshiro up) and of course there was the surprise that Sirius had for the boy.

Toshiro enjoyed flying, but he never bothered to buy a broom. Sirius had decided to go all out by buying Toshiro a Ice-bolt (The Japanese equivalent of the Fire Bolt, rumored to have more options available for modifying it and was fifty percent faster) as well as a book on wind magic.

Toshiro loved his gifts, and spent the entire day actually acting his age for once.

Of course that was nothing to what Remus had gotten the boy as a joke gift.

They had no idea _where_ he found such a huge dragon shaped plushie (which could double as a chair) or how he managed to fit it through the Ravenclaw dorm.

All Toshiro knew was he had a new favorite spot to sit while reading.

(When Toshiro left for the year, he moved the dragon plushie into his office. It was a source of great amusement for his squad to see the tiny taicho sitting in it while doing paperwork. Quite a few of his fangirls in the soul society have pictures of that scene.)

* * *

Rangiku didn't know what to expect from her captain. All she knew was that he had gone to certain lengths to make this Christmas interesting.

So when she saw the spare gigai (which could be hidden in her trunk's secondary room where no one would find it) she grinned.

Toshiro was giving her an entire day off!

Rangiku met Sirius in the Shrieking shack, where the two walked down to the Three Broomsticks for their date. It was rather successful (particularly for Madam Rosemerta, who received a generous tip and payment in full for all the booze the two drank) and fun evening for the two.

Of course Sirius received many jealous looks over his date.

Rangiku had left the boring robes behind, and had come dressed in a rather revealing (I/E her bust was showing through the top) shirt and wearing pants.

And Sirius ended it all with a rather large kiss. Rangiku grinned at him, and didn't stop him in the least.

While Gin (Captain of squad three) was interesting enough, Sirius was both fun and her type.

* * *

Rangiku wanted to whine as she sat down and helped Toshiro fill out the paperwork. Her captain had been really nice to her the day before, and even she had to admit it was better to have the papers delivered to them at the school rather than deal with an entire office full of it when they returned.

That didn't mean she had to like it though.

It took an entire day of stamping, signing and filling out to get the back log taken care of.

And she was utterly exhausted at the end of it.

Which is when Toshiro held up something that made all her complaints disappear.

"This...is from Kyoraku-taicho. He made sure to send you favorite brand," said Toshiro dryly.

In his hands was a box full of her favorite sake brand. The six bottles looked innocent enough, and it was very unlikely McGonagall would recognize it for what it was unless she sniffed it.

Rangiku squealed in delight, and went back to Gryffindor tower.

(Toshiro would later learn that the gift was put to good use for the Gryffindor party. The Lions had won their first Quidditch Cup in ten years, which is why Rangiku really livened it up by spiking several cans of butterbeer with actual alcohol.)

* * *

It was less than two months before the final exams, and so far the dementors had yet to become a real problem. Though it wasn't due to the actions of the teachers.

The disguised soul reapers had long since decided to send all the dementors stationed at the school to squad twelve. Kurotsuchi was more than delighted to have so many test subjects that no one would complain about if he destroyed them utterly.

Dumbledore was quite surprised to learn that of the hundred dementors the Ministry had sent, only twenty five remained. Even the Ministry officials were baffled as to the cause. (Not that anyone was actually _complaining_ about the missing dementors!)

Things seemed to be settling down for the year. Toshiro was just relieved that there wasn't some crazy situation that required his personal interference.

At least, that was what he assumed.

Hermione was at her limit. The Time Turner drained her magical reserves greatly, and she wasn't used to the strain of being in a time paradox.

As she was walking along the outside of the castle, she failed to notice the remaining dementors closing in. For reasons she had yet to figure out, the fell creatures had it in for Hanataro Yamada, Renji Abarai, Rangiku Matsumoto, Jamie Potter, and Toshiro Hitsugaya.

Every time one of them stepped outside the castle gates, the dementors would practically swarm around them.

Hermione was almost faint by the time she realized what was happening.

It was almost too late when she screamed.

Toshiro had been keeping a close eye on Hermione since he realized she was living in a paradox. Especially when he noticed she was very close to fainting or worse, breaking her magical core.

So when his closest female friend screamed, he was there in an instant.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_ he yelled, and the dragon erupted violently from his sword.

He hadn't realized that Hyorinmaru had switched from wand mode.

The dementors let loose the most awful shriek he had ever heard, and that was saying something considering he faced hollows every summer.

The creatures shifted their attention from the unconscious Hermione, and converged on Toshiro instead.

Toshiro could feel the effects of their dreadful powers, as memories of his past hit him like a brick. It was only by sheer stubborn will that he was still standing at all.

Before they could finally devour his soul, Toshiro heard on the edges of his mind _"Stampede through the forest, Prongs!"_

The spectral stag erupted from James wand, slicing dementors upon contact.

"_Roar, Haineko!"_ yelled Rangiku. The ashes ripped the cloaks to shreds.

Renji was leading the teachers to the scene, where Hermione was slowly coming to.

No one noticed when Hanataro accidentally picked up her time turner. Or that it had gone missing.

"Really now, what the bloody devil were those fools thinking, letting those things in a school!" growled McGonagall.

Sirius was giving Hermione chocolate, which got rid of the dementor's effects. Toshiro was barely remaining conscious, when he heard James' voice telling him it was alright to pass out.

* * *

Toshiro awoke to find his 'wand' by his side...and a large amount of ice on the table. Arcana and Tsukishiro appeared worried about their master, as the glared at almost everyone who came too close to him.

Only Madam Pomphrey or his team could get anywhere near him without being bit or scratched.

"What happened?" he asked wearily.

"The dementors tried to Kiss you. It was lucky that we happened to be around the corner when we felt the temperature drop so suddenly, or they would have succeeded," said James.

"What about Hermione? Is she alright?"

"She'll survive, thanks to your intervention," said McGonagall.

"Please tell me they're getting rid of those damn things..." said Toshiro tiredly.

"The Ministry has decided to remove them, since they nearly killed two students. Not like they had a choice, since most of the wretched things are apparently on the loose somewhere. Right now they have issued a reward for the locations of the missing dementors," said Sirius, amused.

Toshiro noted the laughter in the man's voice. He knew _exactly_ what happened to the horrid things, and he wasn't telling.

"That reminds me. Since you were unconscious during all your exams, the teachers have all agreed to give you straight O's for defending a fellow student, and a hundred points," said Sirius.

Toshiro looked shocked. He had forgotten all about the exams!

James grinned.

"Oh please, it's not like you wouldn't have passed with a perfect score anyway. You've read almost the _entire_ library!" snickered James.

Toshiro was in the hospital wing for one more night, before he got too antsy.

He was the hero of the school because he saved Hermione. Even the Slytherins looked at him with respect.

For the second year in a row, Ravenclaw won the house cup.

Toshiro was more than eager to leave the school, so he could enjoy _some_ peace a quiet.

He didn't duck fast enough to avoid a stunner spell that came from nowhere.


	4. Chapter 4

James was worried. Toshiro hadn't boarded the train on time.

So instead of owling him when they got off, he went to the back, grabbed Toshiro's broom, and told Rangiku to alert the others that he was returning to the school.

What James found would infuriate him.

Dumbledore had managed to stun Toshiro and was currently running several invasive scans on the boy.

While it was highly unlikely the man would realized that Toshiro was Harry (the gigai blocked most of the spells due to it's unique nature), it was highly likely the man would realize _what_ Toshiro was.

* * *

Dumbledore didn't realize his audience (James had shoved his gigai into Toshiro's trunk when he borrowed the broom) and didn't realize the danger he was in.

Toshiro slowly blinked, and realized where he was.

And who had him tied up firmly with his 'wand' far from reach.

Arcana and Tsukishiro were already on the train (Draco had carried them for Toshiro) and almost none of his group would realize something was wrong until they went to the air port.

It wasn't until he felt a spiritual pressure rising steadily that he knew someone else was nearby.

Someone familiar.

It wasn't until the windows shattered that Dumbledore finally looked behind him.

In Dumbledore's view was a vague figure with a Japanese sword. The figure was mostly in black, and had brownish eyes.

He leveled the Elder Wand at the figure. For some reason it was the only wand that could effect Toshiro. His original one seemed to only work half as well.

Toshiro woke up completely when he realized what was happening. He didn't realize that James had been working on his bankai while at the school!

James leveled his sword at the forest, and said clearly "Bankai!"

His spiritual pressure spiked at ten times it's former strength, and he was enveloped in leaves and roots.

When it broke apart, he looked very different than before.

Toshiro blinked, not sure he was seeing things properly.

James had stag horns on his head. His soul reaper uniform was tied together by leafy vines, and his uniform had changed from black and white to gold and green hues. He almost appeared to be a forest sprite with his new look.

"_Forest kami shield!"_

Toshiro was beyond shocked. James' sword was a former forest god?

Then he realized that it made more sense than it didn't. Stags were often portrayed as the protectors of nature, particularly in Celtic and druid rituals.

The spell binding Toshiro fell apart, and the boy ran out the window.

He ditched his gigai, and it vanished into his trunk next to James. Now that his powers were unbound, he could race along the air easily.

The two ran in the air, avoiding the spells the headmaster shot at them with the Elder wand.

"He's going to be trouble from now on," said Toshiro, wincing. That floor had been hard!

"How were we supposed to know he had that damn wand?"

Every afterlife knew of the missing Hallows. The cloak, stone and wand.

The fact that Dumbledore not only had one of them, but knew what it was, meant they were in for a serious fight with him.

At the very least, they had to warn Avalon about this news.

* * *

Rangiku looked around worriedly for her captain. James had been gone a long time, and she had realized as soon as she left that she hadn't seen Toshiro board the train.

It wasn't until she felt a familiar pair of spirit energies that she calmed down. Though she did do a double take upon seeing James.

"Why do you have horns on your head?" she asked.

"First time I have unleashed my bankai, don't know how to turn it off," he answered.

"Have you tried releasing all that energy you just let off?" suggested Toshiro.

James finally relaxed, now that they were far enough from Dumbledore that the old man couldn't actually chase them. The horns vanished, and he became plain old James Potter.

* * *

"Come on Toshiro, why won't you use Hyorinmaru to help you with this?" whined James.

"Like I would use him for something as trivial as this!" snorted Toshiro.

"Ah! It's falling!"

Toshiro couldn't help the laughter at the look on James face. It was two days into summer vacation, and for once he didn't have a giant pile of backlogged paperwork to fill out.

So in order to keep James busy, he enlisted his help in moving in the 'dragon chair' that Remus got him into the office.

Toshiro really didn't care that it was a source of endless amusement for his squad that he was actually going to use it. He liked the dragon chair, and that was that.

James was currently pinned under the dragon's head, and he didn't look happy.

"Can we at least get Ikkaku and Yumichika for help?" whined James.

Toshiro blinked. He had completely forgotten to ask for their help.

"I'll go send for them..." he said slowly.

"You forgot to ask, didn't you?" said James.

Toshiro remained silent, which was all the proof he needed.

When Ikkaku and Yumechika finally arrived, they found several of squad ten standing in the doorway. It looked like they were laughing about something.

"What's going on?" asked Ikkaku.

"I was trying to move something into my office and a certain idiot got pinned," said Toshiro.

When they saw what James was pinned under, they started howling with laughter.

The idiot had fallen asleep under the dragon.

"I swear if he drools on it, he's going to have frozen sheets for a week!" growled Toshiro.

When they finally got over the laughing fit, they carefully lifted the dragon up.

James yawned, and when he realized the dragon was off him, jumped up chanting "I'm free, I'm free!"

Toshiro used his ice magic to hit the man with a snowball to shut him up.

After that it took five minutes to move the dragon chair into the office.

"Where's Rangiku?" asked Ikkaku (drinking buddy).

"In the world of the living. She's currently improving our relations with Avalon," said Toshiro annoyed.

"How is she doing that?" asked Yumechika.

"She's currently dating a wizard with close connections to Avalon, and the only reason she hasn't been kicked out of the soul society is because she has been sending her half of the paperwork back to me," growled Toshiro.

They wisely didn't ask any more about the subject.

Of course several of the Shinigami Women's Association _had_ to come see Toshiro sitting in the infamous chair. A few even took pictures of the scene.

* * *

Toshiro felt a headache coming on. While Rangiku was going out regularly with Sirius (it was pretty obvious where their relationship was heading) James practiced often with his bankai.

As Toshiro had suspected, James had somehow managed to unlock his second release while keeping his grades up.

He secretly suspected that James ditched Divination since it was taught by a woman who remained high all the time. (Actually he ditched History of Magic, since even Hermione fell asleep during that class.)

The only interesting thing to occur was Hanataro handing Toshiro an odd item he had picked up somewhere. He knew the captain would figure out what it did.

It took only two hours for Toshiro to figure out what it was. Frankly he couldn't be happier that Hanataro had found it and not a wizard.

Hanataro had accidentally picked up Hermione's time turner. It seemed that in the whole chaos of the dementor attack, no one had asked where Hermione had dropped the item McGonagall had given her.

Toshiro doubted anyone would actually miss it.

Once he had the time turner, he found a rather _unique_ use for the object.

His paperwork/homework had never been done faster. And he could skip the rather boring captain's meetings. (He would go to them, then once they were over he would hide in the bathrooms and skip out.)

James of course, suspected something was up, but despite his many efforts to find Toshiro's new trick he couldn't figure it out.

It didn't help that Toshiro had taken to wearing the invisibility cloak under his haori. Toshiro could go invisible simply by putting the hood on.

* * *

Near the end of summer, Toshiro got an invite from Sirius and Remus. Apparently the Minister wished to award Sirius for supposedly breaking the curse on the DADA job (students had either cheered or groaned when they learned he was returning next year) and Sirius decided to invite everyone.

Which meant the Weasly clan and the Shinigami group would be going to the World Cup this year.

The first thing Toshiro did when he learned of the World Cup was stock up on headache/migraine potions (courtesy of a very happy Unohana, who was pleased with the new healing techniques being brought in.)

The next thing he did was put a rather nasty warding charm over his favorite chair. His fangirls were rather...obsessive, and he didn't doubt for a second that they would attempt to remove a piece of the by now infamous chair to add to their shrines of him.

(Yes, the chair had become infamous just by being the only thing in the office of Toshiro that suggested he was actually young. Usually Toshiro acted like an 'old man' in the words of his lieutenant.)

Toshiro popped his neck before going through the Senkaimon. The limiter went on him as usual, though he noted the shape was odd he didn't think anything of it.

* * *

He blinked when Rangiku tackled him in a hug. She hadn't spent much time in the Soul Society since she had hooked up with Sirius during the winter.

Since she was wearing her spare gigai, no one really paid attention to her.

At least, until she turned into her new animagus form (Sirius had taught her during their dates).

"It figures you would be a giant cat," Toshiro snorted.

An orange colored leopard stood before him purring.

She turned back, and grinned at the annoyed Ministry workers who shot her glares.

"What's with the looks?"

"I informed the idiots in charge that I am Japanese, which by law means I don't have to register at all!"

"And they are angry at you why?"

"Because I look hotter than their own wives, and they are jealous of Sirius?" she grinned unrepentant.

Toshiro sighed. He knew he was going to have a migraine later. This fact was only compounded by Rangiku drinking from her sake bottle.

Toshiro felt actual relief when he spotted Hermione.

"Toshiro!" she cried when she spotted him.

Rangiku didn't bother to hide her laughter when he was bowled over by a very happy Hermione. He had been wondering why she hadn't mentioned him rescuing her from those blasted dementors at the end of the year.

(It turned out that she had opted to go home early, to avoid questions.)

"Hermione! Can't breathe!" yelped Toshiro.

"I'm so sorry about that. But I never got to thank you for saving me last year!"

"Tell me you at least dropped your courses down to a sane level and we will be even," answered Toshiro.

"I dropped Muggle studies and Divination."

Toshiro looked relieved, though he would never admit that he had her time turner under his shirt.

Finally Hermione noticed the adult Rangiku.

"Hello! Are you Rangiku's mother?" she asked.

Toshiro couldn't help his reaction. He started cracking up. Rangiku looked somewhat annoyed, since she couldn't tell Hermione that she _was_ the same Rangiku the girl knew.

Fortunately Sirius walked up to the trio with a grin.

"Camp's almost set up."

Toshiro's eyes widened when he realized that none of them had any concept on how to actually set up a tent. Even a magical one.

Between Hermione and Toshiro, they managed to get them up properly in record time.

Though both were amazed by the insides of the tents.

"Found these old things in the attic of my parent's house. Jamie here found a few extra ones in one of the Potter mansions, and lent them to Mr. Weasly," explained Sirius.

"Meh. They can keep them as far as I'm concerned. It's not like I will actually use them."

"That reminds me..."

Toshiro walked up to the twins with an evil grin. And soon the two were howling with laughter. James had a nasty feeling as to why they were laughing...

And he was right. Toshiro had asked for copies of the infamous chair incident, which including a few pictures of James pinned under the dragon's body with only his head visible.

Remus happened to see the picture, and he started laughing.

"You really love that chair don't you?" he asked amused.

"I think love is a bit tame as for his feelings towards it Moony. He is obsessed with the thing. The last time someone tried to get too close to it, the guy was flash frozen! Unohana was seriously annoyed by that."

"I think the message was spread fast enough. Harm the chair in any way and you will die a horrible, horrible death," said Toshiro with a straight face.

Remus couldn't help the chuckles.

* * *

It didn't take long for Toshiro to get bored. The game wasn't going to start for another day. So in the spirit of fun, he went walking with the twins to cause chaos.

Instead he learned of their true goal for when they graduated.

"You two want to open up a prank shop?"

"Lack of funds is the only thing holding us back," admitted Fred.

Toshiro spotted a trio of goblins and recognized one of them. He walked up and said politely "Hello Griphook. How is business going?"

The goblins stared at him in complete shock. Never had a wizard actually recognized one of their kind on sight, let alone walked up to one in such a pleasant fashion!

"How did you recognize me?" he asked finally.

"Like I would forget the goblin that helped us on our first trip into Gringotts. Have you made any profitable business ventures lately?"

Griphook shook his head.

"The magical world is sadly very stagnant, and most of our profits come from a change of owners instead of new business."

An idea occurred to him as Toshiro thought of the twin's problem.

"What would someone have to do to get a loan from Gringotts to create a new business?"

Griphook explained what they would need to do, and Toshiro listened interested. It didn't seem that difficult. The main issue seemed to be convincing the goblin clans it was worth their time investing.

Something the twins could accomplish with ease.

"I think I may have some people you would be delighted to meet."

Griphook went with Toshiro to meet the twins. It didn't take long for the goblin to realize why the boy thought he would like them.

They were natural businessmen and were eager to start up a relatively new store in an area that had already been pioneered by Zonko's. Which meant they would have less trouble in breaking new ground.

By the time Griphook returned to his group, he had agreed to set up a meeting with the goblin in charge of loans. There was little doubt in his mind that Fred and George Weasly would soon have their shop.

"You are amazing mate!"

"How did you convince him it was worth talking to us?"

"I was polite, and happened to recognize him when I spotted him. The rest was actually paying attention to what he said."

The twins, which had spent their whole lives living in the magical community, couldn't understand how Toshiro could tell the difference.

To which the boy replied "How can _you_ tell which is Fred and which is George?"

That stumped them.

* * *

Toshiro spent the rest of the afternoon helping them learn to tell the difference between one goblin and another.

It was also his secret on how to tell the terror twins apart, not that he mentioned it.

"So what do you have planned for this year mate?" asked George.

"Peace and quiet is the only thing I _ever_ have planned. It just never works out that way," whined Toshiro.

"By the way, have you heard about the dementors? The Ministry still doesn't have a clue what happened to them!" said Fred.

"We got rid of them. I find it very unlikely they will survive _where_ we sent those damn things."

"Where _you_ sent them?" said the twins in chorus.

"I happen to know a rather disturbing man who has absolutely no morals whatsoever. Especially when he finds a subject interesting enough to dissect. And he _loves_ to dissect new creatures alive."

The twins winced. They already didn't like the sound of that.

"Fortunately we're on his good side for sending him so many new test subjects that no one will complain about later."

"Is this man a natural prankster?"

"He's more evil mad scientist than prankster. However, I _do_ know the guy who used to have his position who loves pranks. Want his name and address? You can borrow Tsukishiro if you want."

It wouldn't be until Toshiro returned to the Soul Society to find it plagued by a mysterious rash of new pranks that no one had ever heard of before that he realized the error of introducing the Terror Twins to Kisuke Urahara, the former Squad Twelve captain...

* * *

Toshiro couldn't wait for the blasted World Cup to be over. Even the strongest headache potions weren't working.

Fortunately he could cast a silencing charm over a pair of normal ear plugs, otherwise he would have been deaf for hours after. He had somehow gotten a seat right next to Ludo Bagman, who happened to be using a rather strong Sonorous charm.

Still, the ominoculars he had bought for fun came in handy, as he managed to keep track of the game.

Though it surprised everyone when Toshiro turned out to be extremely resistant to the Bulgarian mascots. The Veela had enchanted every straight male within the dome, but something about the Shinigami resisted their charms enough that they could think clearly.

(Which was a good thing considering Yumechika practically fell in love with the women for their looks.)

When Krum caught the Snitch, Toshiro cheered with the others for one reason.

The blasted thing was _finally_ over! Of course James mistook his son's cheering for him becoming a fan like the rest of them.

* * *

Toshiro had a cold cloth over his head. The headache still hadn't gone away like he hoped.

The Weaslys were all still celebrating when Arthur Weasly came in looking worried.

The remaining Death Eaters who had escaped Azkaban were out in force, reminding the world they were still around.

Toshiro jumped out of the bunk bed, thoroughly annoyed and ready to strangle something.

He saw the fires that the idiots were starting, and his head felt like it would split in two. He grabbed Hyorinmaru (wand form) and leveled it at the Death Eaters.

"_Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyorinmaru!"_

The icy dragon washed over the Death Eaters, freezing their feet to the ground. It had the added effect of dowsing the flames. The drunken terrorists tried to apparate out, but Toshiro's reitsu overpowered their weak magic easily.

Several off-duty Aurors popped in, and arrested the lot. Anyone stupid enough to get drunk and put on their old Death Eater outfits would have a lot of explaining to do, and undoubtedly many would buy their way out.

But it meant that their coffers would be down more than usual.

Mr. Weasly looked particularly happy when one of the men turned out to be none other than Lucius Malfoy. His wife and son looked disgusted that he had been stupid enough to pull such a stunt in public.

Toshiro gave his statement, and went back into the tent.

It was then that he realized where his headache had come from.

"I don't believe this... I'm suffering from a case of heat exhaustion..."

Once he had frozen the bunk bed enough that he wouldn't overheat again, he went to sleep. When he woke up his headache had finally gone away.

* * *

Toshiro woke up in the early hours of the morning to the sound of frightened screams.

He poked his head out to see a strange symbol that looked vaguely familiar and scowled.

Hanataro carefully walked up to the irate captain and told him worriedly that he had lost his wand.

"How the hell do you lose your wand?" he asked.

"I had it with me when we went up to the box, and when we left I couldn't hear him anymore."

"Bugger... Hang on a moment while I grab Hyorinmaru. I'll cast a summoning charm and get it back...as long as it isn't stuck in something."

Toshiro grabbed Hyorinmaru, and looked to Hanataro for the name.

"Hisagomaru."

"_Accio Hisagomaru!"_

He heard a vague bout of swearing in the distance, as Hanataro's sword flew back to their camp. Someone had managed to use it to cast a spell, thinking it was a regular wand and in protest it had reverted to it's true form.

Toshiro scowled.

Hanataro looked relieved, until Ministry officials walked over to the camp looking for the owner of a sword that nearly brained them.

Someone had the presence of mind to scan his wand for spells cast, and found that whoever had stolen it had used the wand/sword to summon the mark of Voldemort.

"Hanataro could no more summon that particular mark than I could use fire. None of our group even knows the incantation, let alone would want to actually use it," said Toshiro, his migraine growing worse.

By the time they made it back to the Potter mansion (which was considered the unofficial base of operations for the Soul Reapers) Toshiro needed a nap. His head felt like it was about to split open.

Toshiro laid down, his head killing him.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he was thrown out of the Potter mansion into another place.

He watched a man before him die from the killing curse. Someone who looked like a muggle.

Suddenly Hyorinmaru appeared in the vision, very pissed off. Toshiro awoke with a start, and realized that he was going to be in for a rough year.

"What the hell was that about?"

_'Before you died, you had a piece of another soul inside you. That vision was forced through the remnants of that link.'_

Toshiro scowled.

_'Is there any way to _permanently_ remove the damn thing?'_

_'Not unless you want to lose the ability to use parseltongue. Once you destroy the rest of the horcruxes, it will be gone and the ability is yours to keep.'_

A thought struck him.

_'Hyorinmaru...can you still sense the link?'_

_'Clear as day. Why?'_

_'Can you tell me how many there are?'_

His sword was silent for five minutes, and then said _'At least two are left. Possibly three.'_

Toshiro took some measure of comfort from that.

He tried going back to sleep. Unfortunately, whatever was forcing the link to remain open also made it difficult to go to sleep.

* * *

"So what is that old bastard up to this year?" asked Toshiro.

After the kidnapping incident, he finally had enough of Dumbledore. Which meant it was open season when it came to insulting the old man.

Draco walked up to the group, looking embarrassed.

"Toshiro. I came to apologize for my idiot father's behavior during the World Cup."

Toshiro waved it off.

"Like it's your fault he got so drunk and decided to behave improperly. It was just his bad luck that I had a massive migraine from all the noise at the Cup."

"Where did that giant dragon come from anyway?"

"His name is Hyorinmaru. He is my partner," said Toshiro.

It was then that Draco finally noticed the sword strapped across Toshiro's back.

"You know kendo?"

"If you want, I can teach you how to use a sword properly. Though you would have to start with a wooden one before I can trust you with a real one."

"Fair enough. Anyway, last I heard the old goat is planning on bringing back the Triwizard tournament."

"What the hell is that?"

"Basically a competition between the three largest European schools. The only problem was that the death rate was so high they were forced to end it about sixty years ago."

"And knowing my crappy luck I will somehow end up in the middle of it."

As the two passed by the bookstore, Draco spotted something that reminded him of an incident from second year.

He couldn't help the snickering.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Oh, just remembering that little incident when Lockhart brought in those dwarves on Valentine's day."

Toshiro scowled. That had been the most horrific day he had ever spent. To make matters worse he had the most embarrassing time trying to explain the Japanese view of common holidays like Christmas to the other students.

_Flashback to second year..._

_Toshiro walked into the Great Hall, took one look at the decorations and attempted to run for his sanity to the Chamber of Secrets._

_He didn't make it, though it wasn't for lack of trying. No less than THIRTY dwarves tackled him with some rather poorly written love confessions. He had never seen James and Rangiku laugh so hard._

_Toshiro kept being accosted in the halls, so he ran straight to the Slytherin dorms in an attempt to hide._

_Renji had mentioned it was guarded by a snake painting, so he use Parseltongue to get in without the password._

_Draco had been visiting his godfather...(cough more like hiding from his OWN fangirls cough) when he spotted Toshiro._

"_Why are you here?"_

"_Because those loony girls have their holidays mixed up for some reason."_

_Seeing the blank look on Draco and Snape's face, Toshiro continued._

"_In Japan, only the _girls_ exchange chocolate on Valentine's Day. Boys will give the girls white items a month later to tell them whether or not they reciprocate their feelings."_

_Draco noticed that their were several dwarves attempting to get in, and couldn't help his laughter. Even Snape seemed amused._

_Flashback End..._

"Dear Kami, I would rather be alone with Dumbledore for ten minutes than go through _that _again," shuddered Toshiro.

"I still can't believe you ended up blushing while explaining the Japanese view of Valentine's day."

"Shut it!"

Draco snickered anyway. It was still funny just thinking about how embarrassed Toshiro had been.

"What about Christmas?"

"Holiday for lovers. I never bothered to explain it because Jamie gives me books that day anyway and I looked up the Western version of it after he joined my team."

"By the way, did you hear about the guard the old goat is hiring to make sure nothing unpleasant happens to the champions? Something about the incident with the Death Eaters at the World Cup."

"Why would he care about that? Wasn't Voodletort afraid of that old geezer?"

"From was I heard, he didn't want to endanger the students since they never actually _found_ the owner of that ice dragon. Fudge apparently has some of his people looking for it right now."

"Next you'll be telling me that you're into mahou shoujo manga..." said Toshiro annoyed.

"Huh?"

"Magical Girl Japanese Comics," Toshiro translated.

"Well now that you mention it..." said Draco, trying not to be embarrassed.

"You're kidding, right? Which ones?"

Draco coughed.

"Barajou no Kiss."

Toshiro had a blank look of incredulity as he said "Hah?"

Draco handed him the first volume, which he was going to reread later, and within the first few chapters Toshiro looked at Draco in disbelief.

"I don't believe it."

Draco blushed.

"Well there is only one thing to do then..."

Draco waited for Toshiro to laugh at him. Instead he handed him another book.

"Which one is this?"

"Jigoku Shoujo. I read manga from time to time. Thought I take great pains to hide my collection from Rangiku and James."

"Why?"

"For starters they are much older than you would think."

Draco remembered the woman next to Sirius. It was pretty hard to forget someone who was a bit more well endowed than your own mother.

She had looked so familiar... then it clicked.

"That was really Rangiku, and not her mother?"

Toshiro snickered.

"You should have seen the look on her face when Hermione made that same mistake."

* * *

Dumbledore stood at the podium, and announced the Triwizard tournament.

Right as he made the announcement, there was a loud crack of thunder. Several students yelped in shock or fear. Some even dove under the table.

Toshiro was one of the few who were merely startled. He wasn't afraid of some lightning.

After all, most of his powers were tied to nature anyway.

Toshiro looked up, and saw another bolt about to strike. Since he didn't want to hear such a loud noise again, he drew his 'wand' and aimed it at the ceiling.

_'Get rid of that thunderstorm Hyorinmaru. It's starting to give me a headache.'_

A bolt of ice white streaked from Hyorinmaru and hit the ceiling. Abruptly the thunderstorm became a snowstorm instead. All the energy from the lightning had nowhere to go...so Toshiro sent it someplace else. Someplace where it wouldn't do as much harm.

(In other words he just made things more miserable for Voldemort, wherever the wraith was.)

Toshiro noted that the so called guard was giving him an approving look. Mad Eye Moody apparently agreed with his method... then Toshiro realized the man had his wand ready to get rid of the storm too.

"Toshiro! Why didn't you do that sooner? Like before we got off the train?" whined Draco.

"Because it wasn't annoying me then. I don't mess with weather unless absolutely necessary. All that lightning energy has to go somewhere, and it's a major hassle just to move the rain because I don't want to get wet."

By the time they went to bed, Toshiro had already had enough of the tournament.

Cho Chang noticed he was rubbing his temples repeatedly and ordered him to go straight to sleep.

"If they don't shut up, I will spend the rest of the year in the damn Chamber."

After learning where the primary entrance was, Toshiro had offered to let the other students use it for a private study hall where they could argue and speak their mind without having to worry about the political atmosphere in the school.

It had become the unofficial hangout for pure-bloods and muggleborns to mingle, provided they were at least civil to one another.

The small area where Toshiro frequented was his place alone. Only a parselmouth could open that door.

Toshiro had long since managed to get rid of the bad reputation of the Chamber when he renovated it.

The overdone snake motif was gone, and so was the relief on the back wall.

Now there was a relaxed atmosphere with tables, books, warm lighting, and there were menus so the student could order anything they wanted.

Toshiro idly wondered how the other schools would like his little place.

* * *

"Toshiro, where have you been hiding?" asked Flitwick.

"My private study area. All this talk of the tournament is giving me a migraine."

"Madam Pomphrey could..."

"It's not a good idea to get too dependent on potions. Particularly those that get rid of pain."

Flitwick acknowledged his point.

Toshiro spent a rather large amount of time in the study alone. It was the only place where his head could get any rest. The only problem was that he was having real difficulty sleeping, which meant he was snapping at people more often than normal.

* * *

Rangiku was seriously worried about her captain. He was more irritable than normal.

He had bags under his eyes every time she saw him, and he kept rubbing his temples repeatedly. Like he had a migraine he couldn't get rid of.

So in order to actually do something to help him, she waited until the Secret Cafe was closed and Toshiro had hidden himself in his little hole that only he could access.

She had a theory that there was _one_ other person able to access it. And she planned to test it.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to try snake tongue _why_?" asked Renji.

"Half of your sword is a snake isn't it?"

Renji nodded.

"Half snake, half baboon."

"That means you might be able to use snake language to open Taicho's little hideaway."

"I don't even know what his password is!" protested Renji.

"I do. Taicho mentioned that it was set to open at the name of the Monster of Slytherin."

"So it's Arcana?"

"Or Astriel."

"You owe me for this if it works."

"Deal."

Renji went to the spot where Toshiro usually stood, and looked at it closely. He didn't know whether or not he could do this, but there was no harm in trying.

"_Ar_cana."

The small knob next to where Salazar's relief once stood didn't budge. It had moved slightly at first, but had stopped when he slipped back into English.

Renji coughed, and tried again.

"_Arca_na."

It moved about a third of the way, and Renji knew he almost had it.

"_Arcana."_

An outline of a door appeared, and Renji slowly touched the knob. Rangiku nodded towards him, and went in. Renji decided to practice the skill in secret whenever he could, because it could prove very useful later.

* * *

Rangiku spotted her captain, trying his hardest to fall asleep. The temperature was perfect for him, and the lighting was down enough that it wouldn't bother him.

But for some reason, he couldn't sleep at all.

She walked up to where the couch was (the room could change the furniture to whatever the occupant needed) and sat down next to him.

Toshiro didn't register her presence at all. That spoke volumes to how tired he was. She noted that the air was saturated with spiritual energy, almost to the same point as the soul society itself. She abandoned her gigai on the chair nearby, and waited until Toshiro attempted to lay another way on the couch.

Toshiro sat up, unable to notice anything around him. His only concern was sleep at the moment to register the presence of Rangiku.

So when he lay back down, grabbing the blanket at his feet, he didn't realize that he had laid down in his lieutenant's lap.

Rangiku felt sorry for him. Toshiro was uptight, but he genuinely cared about his squad. Whenever one of them fell sick from something like a fever, Toshiro would always use his sword to cool off the room. And ever summer when the other squads would pass out from heat exhaustion, he would use Hyorinmaru to keep his squad at a temperature that wouldn't harm them.

He was strict, but he did allow for mistakes. He even dealt with her drinking binges with patient humor.

She lay a warm hand on his forehead, and realized with surprise that he had developed a nasty fever from lack of sleep. And having the temperature down wasn't helping one bit, despite his preference to it.

She looked at the fireplace, and slowly the flames started to warm up the room a bit more. Not enough to wake up Toshiro, but enough that his fever wouldn't get worse.

They stayed there for at least two hours before Toshiro finally woke up. It took him a good five minutes to realize _where_ he was, and who was in the room with him.

"Matsumoto?"

"Taicho, are you aware that you have a rather high fever?"

Toshiro didn't know whether to glare or yell at her for somehow finding a way into his private spot.

So when she whacked him on the head for being an idiot, he was completely in shock.

"You are going to see Madam Pomphrey whether you like it or not. And you are _not_ going to use Hyorinmaru or Arcana to lower the temperature," she said, retrieving her gigai.

Toshiro was in disbelief as she practically dragged him to the hospital wing, and told Madam Pomphrey about his fever. Five minutes later he was stuck over the weekend and banned from using magic until his fever was gone.

To insure that he actually slept, the healer handed him sleeping potions and made very sure he actually drank them.

* * *

By Monday, Toshiro felt more like himself than he had since returning to the world of the living.

Renji couldn't believe it when Toshiro took him aside and asked him if he wanted to learn parseltongue properly. The two scheduled lessons in Toshiro's favorite spot, provided Renji didn't come in with anyone else.

Rangiku, after managing to get in through Renji, was given her own password that only she could open. It was the only way to prevent her from blackmailing Renji from doing for her again.


	5. Chapter 5

"So what are Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like?" asked Toshiro.

"Durmstrang is in Bulgaria, and it's filled with mostly boys. Girls go to the French school Beauxbatons to learn magic and the Arts. It's rumored that the Veela clans almost always send the girls of the clans to Beauxbatons," said James.

"So basically we're going to have to deal with muscleheaded boys and brainless girls with an almost impossible to decipher French accent?" complained Renji.

"So Squad eleven and four then," said Toshiro.

They all snickered.

"That reminds me James, how did you end up in the Soul Society anyway? I thought those that died in Europe went right to Avalon," said Rangiku.

James smirked.

"I did go to Avalon. But it was so damn boring that I accidentally left its territory and ended up in the Soul Society after a few years. I didn't realize that I had gone too far until we came here and I learned about the fact there were other afterlifes."

"I can sense someone coming from the east," said Toshiro suddenly.

They were the ones to spot the French school first, thanks to his timely warning. Toshiro had been blackmailed into coming straight to the hospital wing if he couldn't sleep for more than six hours for three days in a row.

For some reason, his gigai was starting to break down at Hogwarts, which resulted in his spirit energy fighting the bindings.

It had taken two painful and scary months before they started to figure out what was going on. Needless to say Kurotsuchi wasn't too happy about it.

Toshiro had a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore was to blame for a perfectly good gigai breaking down so rapidly.

So if Toshiro had the chance to hit the old man with a spell, he was going to take it, consequences be damned!

Suddenly he heard something akin to a whirlpool, and his eyes were immediately drawn to the lake.

A derelict ship appeared, first the mast then the entire ship.

The foreign students had finally arrived.

Toshiro was very surprised to find himself sitting next to what appeared to be a Veela. Unlike the rest of the boys, he kept his eyes on her face rather than her...endowments. Though to be fair to the girl, even if she did have some rather obvious perks, she couldn't really hold a candle to Rangiku, who was always on the verge of spilling out of her uniform at any given time.

Though she seemed rather relieved by Toshiro's blunt manner and apparent disregard to her natural charms.

"Is there any near here?" she asked. She was looking for a rather thick rich French pudding, and having absolutely no luck with it.

"Could you give me a description of what it looks like?"

She told him, and Toshiro spotted some one table over.

"I believe there is some by that red-head sitting next to James. But I wouldn't recommend getting too close to him, because he has a rather disgusting habit of not chewing his food properly," said Toshiro politely.

Fluer nodded, and went to retrieve the pudding. She seemed rather...off put by Ron.

"Thank you for the forewarning. That was rather unpleasant."

Toshiro nodded, and spooned out some more of the foreign food. He already missed his Onigiri and dango, but the only place to get any of that was to hit the kitchens later.

Finally Fluer's curiosity got the better of her, and she asked Toshiro in thick French why he was unaffected by her Veela charms.

He used the mostly unused power all Shinigami had for understanding any language and replied in the same language.

"_Miss Delacour, I am a Death God captain from Japan. I am afraid that your charms are no where near as strong as my partner. That, and my lieutenant has you beat in certain areas."_

Fluer nodded, her questions satisfied for the moment.

Unlike the paltry wizards of Europe, those of mixed blood knew of the Death Gods and had a treaty with them to keep the peace. Especially after that debacle with the Quincy a few hundred years ago.

* * *

Toshiro wasn't too surprised to find several of the French girls and Bulgarian boys drifting to the _Secret Cafe_. He had anticipated such a reaction, which was why he had enlisted Hermione to adding a few new dishes to the menus so the students wouldn't feel too homesick.

Though he was surprised to find out that Viktor Krum was still in school. He had been too busy trying to fight the migraine that Dumbledore had caused by having the students sing the school anthem.

Clearly he didn't understand that off-key students were not meant to be heard.

"This is impressive," said Viktor, his accent making his English rather difficult to understand.

"Thank you. I felt that the students needed an area that wasn't patrolled by the teachers and where the blood pride could be set aside. Thankfully the snakes were rather easy to remove."

"Snakes?"

Toshiro grinned outright. He liked his little cafe, because it was at just the right temperature for him and it was rather relaxing.

"Salazar Slytherin was a bit...obsessed with snakes. When I first came down here, I discovered he went a little too overboard with them. It was downright tacky."

Victor nodded. An awkward silence descended on them.

"I could give you a place to relax where no one else will notice you unless you want them to. To get away from the rather large fan base you have."

Seeing the relieved look on the boy's face made his day. Toshiro gave the boy the password he had built in to activate the privacy charms. And the directions on how to work the library system without getting up.

Within minutes, he could see a change in the older boy. Victor seemed to actually relax without having to keep an eye out for the fans. He had quickly become engrossed in one of the books.

It didn't take long for Toshiro to discover that Fluer, the girl who had talked to him the night before, was having similar problems. He quickly directed her to the same table Viktor was at, and gave her the same directions. Viktor didn't seem to mind her presence since she had retrieved a book of her own and was fairly quiet.

Two hours later, Toshiro looked up from his book on Dark Ice magic to hear shouting.

Going up the stairs, he found out the cause.

Apparently Karkaroff wasn't too happy that Viktor had gone missing for the past hour without anyone seeing him at least once. The only clue he had been that he had last been seen going to the small cafe under the castle.

"Will you shut up man? Your student is currently taking a break from his fan club at the cafe," snapped Toshiro.

Karkaroff glared at him.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I just helped him turn on the privacy wards at his table, and the last time I looked he was still there reading. And I know for a fact that Fluer Delacour was still there with him with her own book."

Toshiro noted the look of relief on Madam Maxime's face. Clearly she was different from Dumbledore and Karkaroff, because she had honest concern in her features.

"Madam, would you like a tour of the Cafe? I assure you that several of your students are still there, enjoying the peace and quiet," said Toshiro, holding his arm out in the correct manner.

Maxime looked like she wanted to laugh. She accepted his invitation and went to investigate this _Secret Cafe_ that the Hogwarts students talked about.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. He thinks a simple age line is enough to keep the underage students from finding a way into the tournament?"

James shrugged. He had already entered Rangiku and the others. Toshiro wanted nothing to do with the tournament. His migraines were bad enough as it was.

The twins had already tried to bluff it with an aging potion. After ending up with twin beards (no where near as long as Dumbledore's but it was pretty close) Toshiro went up to them and told them point blank that if they were really that eager to join the stupid tournament, then they should just ask one of their teammates for help.

After that, Toshiro saw Angeline drop three slips of paper instead of just one.

He didn't want to join in on the selection process and got a note from Pomphrey that would excuse him from being in the Great Hall that night.

Which was why he was cursing up a storm the minute he heard that somehow, someway his name had actually been entered. His only consolation to the entire mess was that Fred Weasley had somehow gotten picked as well, to the anger of some of the students.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow when the George informed Fred that their brother Charlie happened to be at Hogwarts. Which could only mean one thing, considering Charlie Weasley was a Dragon Tamer.

The first task was dragons.

James resisted the urge to laugh, mostly because the chances that dragons would attack Toshiro were next to zero.

For the next month, Hermione tried and failed to get Toshiro and Fred prepared for the first task. She seemed annoyed that neither boy was taking the task that seriously.

* * *

When the day finally arrived, Toshiro was sitting in the tent bored out of his mind. Hermione had gotten so annoyed with them that she refused to speak to them at all.

Fred went out first, and Toshiro waited for the boom of the cannon to tell him when his turn was up. Finally, he walked out to face the Horntail that he had selected.

The dragon roared, and she was pissed.

It took Toshiro a minute to translate her roaring through Hyorinmaru.

And he became appalled. The wizards were stupid enough to move the eggs during the rather delicate incubation period, and three of the eggs were dead. Two were on the verge of dying, and the female was doing her best to keep them alive.

She looked right at Toshiro, and roared flames at him. He threw up an ice shield without thinking, and ran to the eggs. The power of the Dragon Well pulsed in time with his breathing.

He ducked under the dragon's jaws, and wasn't surprised when the female paused in her rage. She could feel the presence of the orb that Toshiro had accidentally absorbed two years ago.

Toshiro put his hand in the nest, and a wave of pure magic raced through his fingers. The power of the Dragon Well did what only a miracle could do.

It revived the dead eggs, and gave them a second chance at life.

He grabbed the false egg and went straight to the medical tent. He dropped the golden egg into James' arms, then went to have a serious talk with the Dragon Tamers.

He was seriously pissed off at them at the moment.

* * *

Charlie Weasley was very taken aback when a white-haired fourth year walked up to them, looking extremely pissed off, and lit into them about the eggs.

"Are you fools aware that you nearly killed those eggs?! Did it ever occur to you to find eggs that were past the incubation period and wouldn't be too effected by the colder temperatures here at the school?!"

It took some doing on the part of his friends to calm the boy down. But not before Toshiro let them have a real tongue lashing for endangering the unborn dragons. He was already furious that Viktor had accidentally gotten some of the infant dragons crushed.

It wasn't until his familiar hissed at them that they figured out why he was so angry with them.

Toshiro Hitsugaya was a genuine dragon lover.

* * *

Toshiro had a premonition that when the egg was opened he would get a headache. Which was why he muffled his hearing with a charm.

Sure enough, ten seconds after opening it, the other students forced the hinges closed. The shrill shrieking of the egg had given them all a headache.

Toshiro looked at the other students, and said calmly "I propose we place this egg under different conditions to see if the sound changes. Any in agreement?"

They all nodded. He wasn't a Raven for nothing.

It took a few days for them to figure out that the clue was mermaids. Toshiro listened to the song, and found that he would have to stay underwater for at least an hour to retrieve something.

Talking to his head of house yielded results, and he quickly mastered the bubble head charm.

James wasn't surprised to learn that Toshiro had figured it out already.

"I wonder who they're going to take," said James.

"I have a good feeling Matsumoto will be my target," said Toshiro sourly.

"Chances are they'll pick George for mine," said Fred.

* * *

Marcus Flint and his merry band of cronies were really starting to get on his nerves. So much so that Toshiro enlisted Draco's help in a prank right before the second task.

He brought in a movie projector, and told the Slytherins that the movie they would be watching was a rather morbid and descriptive film called _Final Destination, _in which a few people survive a horrific disaster only to have Death hunt them down and make them die in particularly horrifying ways.

Once they heard that they were all for it.

But what Toshiro didn't tell them was that he switched the labels on the covers, and instead of the _Final Destination _films, they would be watching _Disney_ films. Namely Bambi and Snow White.

He was also locking them in their common room, so there was absolutely no chance of them running for their sanity. The movies were set on a loop, so they would be stuck watching them... for six hours.

The few Slytherins who supported Toshiro were conspicuously missing when the disc was put in.

They were in the Room of Requirement watching the actual movie, and loving every morbid minute of it.

Snape wondered what could cause his snakes to whimper every time Toshiro or James started humming at random. Some even curled into the fetal position out of horror.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Matsumoto in the last hour?" asked Toshiro. It was two hours before the next task, and he was trying (and failing) to read.

"Not since McGonagall took her aside for something..." said Padma.

Toshiro cursed. Three hours ago George had been taken by Sprout, who was sporting a rather sour look for some reason. Which meant that the hostage for him was Rangiku.

He still had no idea how his name ended up in that cup when he made it clear he had no interest in entering.

"So Toshiro, do you know how to swim?" asked Fred.

"I'm decent at it. I usually get roped by Matsumoto to join her in their yearly visit to the beach, even though I hate the heat," said Toshiro.

"But do you know how to dive? The mermaid colony is pretty deep after all..." said Fred.

"I'll figure something out," muttered Toshiro.

Toshiro was nervous, and rightly so. He knew how to swim more or less, but he had never dived that deep down before. Sure, he knew the bubblehead charm, but he didn't know how to dive that deep.

Still, this couldn't possibly be as nerve-racking as dealing with a drunk Matsumoto on one of her binges.

When the whistle blew, Toshiro dove deep into the water and made an ice boulder that was dense enough for him to sink. Thanks to the odd air tube he had made using ice magic (think of a giant straw that is just barely visible unless you actually look for it and you get the idea. It grows the deeper he goes down) he didn't have to worry about air.

That and he had frozen water around his eyes so he could see. It was a good thing he had a very strong affinity towards ice, or it might have actually hurt getting frostbite like that.

(Matsumoto once called him a 'Reverse Ice Maiden' and the nickname had stuck. Mainly because that was actually a good description of his powers.)

when he reached the bottom, he notice that there was a young girl next to his lieutenant, and she had a few cuts on her. The only reason he could think of why would be that she was a Veela-blood like Fleur, which according to his studies hated mermaids and vice-versa.

So he started to cut away the ropes binding both (not before using the bubblehead charm on himself...he wasn't stupid) and glared at the mermaids who wanted to stop him.

The only reason they didn't try was because of the ice dragon around his neck...it was faster than them and they knew it.

Toshiro slowly swam up to the surface, allowing the carbon monoxide in his blood to dissipate properly before breathing fresh air again. He actually liked to swim, and even though he had never gone that deep before he knew what the bends was.

He also knew that the school nurse was unlikely to recognize the symptoms of it, let alone how to treat it correctly.

The irony was that he had the best time of all, even though he hadn't gone that fast when he swam. He was in better shape than most of the champions, and he had taken his time getting down.

He got the full points and handed his blanket to Matsumoto, who was sneezing up a storm.

Fleur came up ten minutes after he did and actually cried when she saw her sister up already.

Apparently the grindylows in the lake had broken her charm, and she had been forced to abort early.

Shortly after that, Fred came up followed by Krum. Both with their hostages.

When Dumbledore learned Toshiro had rescued Gabriella _before_ Fleur ran into the grindylows, he had to ask why the boy had saved the girl if he didn't know Fleur would get into trouble.

Toshiro glared at the headmaster.

"I, unlike _you_, happen to know that Veela and mermaids hate each other. It didn't take too long to guess the girl was Fleur's sister, which meant leaving her behind unguarded with mermaids is hazardous to her health," said Toshiro frostily.

Fleur was quick to confirm that fact...she had seen the mermaids sneer at her while she had tried to fight off the grindylows.

Toshiro was just glad to have that nonsense over.

* * *

Christmas rolled around, and due to the difficulty he had been having with his gigai, Toshiro signed up to leave the school for break.

Well that and he had looked up past contests and learned about the Yule Ball. There wasn't any rule stating champions _had_ to stay for the ball, but those that did had to perform the opening dance. No way was he sticking around for _that_.


End file.
